Snap Inc. has reached a settlement with two teenagers who alleged that Snapchat’s design contributed to depression, anxiety, eating disorders and self-harm, resolving a closely watched case amid thousands of similar lawsuits against major social media companies.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
LOS ANGELES — Snapchat parent company Snap Inc. settled a lawsuit Monday, Nov. 2, brought by two teenagers who accused the company of deliberately designing its social media platform to encourage compulsive use, contributing to serious mental health problems including depression, anxiety, eating disorders and self-harm.
The agreement came as a Los Angeles Superior Court trial was beginning, with the case selected to test legal claims raised in thousands of lawsuits against social media companies nationwide.
According to Reuters’ report on Monday’s settlement, the agreement resolves the claims brought by a 16-year-old girl from Illinois and an 18-year-old woman from Mississippi.
The financial terms were not disclosed, and the settlement does not constitute a court finding that Snapchat caused the plaintiffs’ injuries.
The teenagers, identified in court records by the initials S.J. and K.D.B., alleged that they began using social media as children and developed compulsive habits encouraged by features designed to keep users engaged for extended periods.
Their lawsuit originally named Snap, Meta Platforms, TikTok and Google’s YouTube.
The plaintiffs had already settled their claims against TikTok and YouTube. Meta subsequently reached separate agreements with both teenagers, leaving Snap as the only remaining defendant before Monday’s settlement.
The case was scheduled to examine whether Snapchat’s design features contributed to the plaintiffs’ alleged psychological injuries and whether the company failed to adequately address risks to younger users.
According to the original allegations detailed by CBS News, the plaintiffs argued that social media companies deliberately developed products that appealed to minors who were especially vulnerable to compulsive use.
The teenagers said they began using YouTube as young as ages 3 and 4 and other platforms around age 9.
They alleged that their social media habits subsequently contributed to depression, anxiety, sleep deprivation, eating disorders, body image concerns and self-harming behavior.
The allegations centered on features that encourage repeated engagement, including automatic video playback, endless content feeds, push notifications and visible measures of popularity.
For Snapchat, the complaint specifically identified Snapstreaks, Snap Scores and filters.
Snapstreaks track consecutive days of communication between users, displaying a count that increases when participants continue exchanging messages.
The plaintiffs argued that such features create pressure to return to the application regularly, particularly among younger users concerned about maintaining social relationships.
Snap Scores, which reflect user activity on the platform, were also cited as encouraging frequent engagement.
The lawsuit characterized those design choices as mechanisms that could reinforce compulsive behavior rather than simply facilitate communication.
Snap disputed the allegations and maintained that it had developed safeguards intended to protect young users.
In a statement provided before trial, the company defended its approach to platform design and child safety.
“We have built safeguards into the platform, introduced safety tools and educational resources, and we believe the evidence will support that we have put our community first, and that these allegations fundamentally misrepresent the plaintiffs’ experiences on Snapchat and how our platform was designed,” a company spokesperson said.
The defense reflected a broader position taken by social media companies facing similar litigation: that young people’s mental health is influenced by numerous factors and cannot automatically be attributed to particular applications.
The companies have also argued that they have introduced parental controls, privacy protections and other features intended to improve safety.
The settlement prevented the latest case from proceeding to a full jury determination of those competing claims.
The litigation had been scheduled to feature testimony from senior technology executives, including Snap CEO Evan Spiegel.
Plaintiffs’ attorneys had sought to examine internal company information concerning platform design, engagement and the potential risks associated with prolonged social media use.
The trial was expected to continue into December before the settlement eliminated the remaining claims.
Judge Carolyn Kuhl was presiding over the proceedings in Los Angeles Superior Court.
The lawsuit is one of several cases selected from a much larger collection of legal actions involving allegations that social media platforms harm children and teenagers.
These cases are known as bellwether trials because they provide an opportunity to examine recurring legal and factual questions that may influence how related lawsuits proceed.
Although a settlement in one case does not automatically determine the outcome of others, the agreements can affect litigation strategies and negotiations involving similar claims.
Thousands of lawsuits remain pending in state and federal courts.
The plaintiffs include children, parents, school districts, municipalities and state governments.
Many allege that social media companies knew their platforms could encourage excessive use among minors but failed to adequately warn users or modify potentially harmful features.
The legal claims include product liability, negligence, failure to warn and allegations of deceptive business practices.
Some lawsuits also accuse companies of prioritizing advertising revenue and engagement metrics over children’s welfare.
The defendants have disputed those allegations and argued that the plaintiffs’ mental health experiences involve complex personal and social circumstances.
Monday’s settlement follows a series of significant developments in the broader litigation.
In March, a Los Angeles jury found Meta and YouTube negligent in a separate case involving a young woman who alleged that prolonged social media use contributed to psychological harm.
The jury awarded $6 million in damages.
That verdict represented an important development for plaintiffs seeking to hold social media companies legally responsible for aspects of their platform design.
However, the outcome of that particular case does not establish liability in other lawsuits involving different individuals, companies or evidence.
Since then, several cases scheduled for trial have been resolved through settlements or withdrawn.
In January, Snap reached an agreement in another social media addiction case brought by a young woman identified in court documents as K.G.M.
That lawsuit alleged that Snapchat’s algorithms and engagement features contributed to addiction and mental health problems.
The settlement terms were not disclosed.
In July, Snap reached another agreement involving a plaintiff identified as R.K.C., whose claims centered on similar concerns about social media use and mental health.
The repeated settlements illustrate the financial and legal pressure facing companies as plaintiffs continue pursuing cases based on allegedly harmful platform design.
Meta has also reached substantial agreements resolving claims brought by state attorneys general.
In August, the company agreed to settlements worth up to $18 billion with nearly every state and U.S. territory over allegations involving the effects of Facebook and Instagram on younger users.
Those agreements included provisions addressing platform design and additional protections for teenagers.
Meta has continued disputing allegations that it intentionally designed its products to harm children.
The company has emphasized changes to teenage accounts, restrictions on certain content and controls intended to reduce potentially harmful interactions.
The broader litigation has attracted attention because it challenges how technology companies develop products intended to maximize user engagement.
Social media platforms commonly rely on advertising revenue and user activity, creating commercial incentives to encourage people to spend more time using their services.
Plaintiffs argue that certain engagement features are especially problematic for children and adolescents, whose decision-making abilities and emotional regulation are still developing.
The lawsuits contend that companies should have anticipated the potential risks and implemented stronger safeguards.
Technology companies counter that social media can provide opportunities for communication, creative expression, education and social connection.
They also argue that research on social media and mental health does not establish that every association between platform use and psychological difficulties is causal.
Researchers have identified relationships between certain patterns of social media use and mental health symptoms, but the strength, direction and causes of those relationships vary across studies.
Factors such as sleep disruption, bullying, social comparison, preexisting mental health conditions and family circumstances can influence individual outcomes.
Those distinctions are important in litigation because plaintiffs generally must demonstrate more than the existence of a mental health condition and a history of social media use.
They must establish the relevant legal elements, including whether a product was defective or negligently designed and whether the alleged conduct caused compensable harm.
The defendants may challenge those arguments by presenting evidence about alternative explanations, safety measures and the experiences of individual users.
The settlements reached in the latest case resolve the parties’ dispute without requiring a jury to decide those issues.
Attorneys representing the teenagers have emphasized their commitment to pursuing accountability in cases involving alleged harm to young users.
Following Meta’s Oct. 30 agreement with K.D.B., attorney Emily Jeffcott said the settlement represented a resolution of her client’s claims while broader litigation continued.
“We remain committed to improving safety for kids on social media apps and holding tech companies accountable, and we are pleased to have brought this matter to a just resolution on behalf of our client,” Jeffcott said.
Snap’s agreement came only days after jury selection began Oct. 28.
At that point, Meta had already resolved its claims involving both plaintiffs, and TikTok and YouTube had settled earlier.
The latest agreement therefore removed the final defendant from a trial that had been expected to examine Snapchat’s design and the company’s knowledge of potential risks to younger users.
Future bellwether proceedings are scheduled for March, according to Reuters.
Those trials are expected to address additional claims involving the same major technology companies and allegations concerning youth mental health.
The broader proceedings could influence how social media platforms design engagement features and communicate potential risks to users.
They may also affect how courts evaluate the responsibilities of technology companies when allegations focus on product design rather than the content users post.
For Snap, Monday’s agreement removes the immediate prospect of a jury verdict in this particular case but does not resolve the thousands of related allegations facing the industry.
For the two teenagers, the settlement concludes their claims against the companies named in their lawsuit without a public determination of liability.
The financial details remain confidential, and Snap has not acknowledged wrongdoing.
With additional trials scheduled and other lawsuits continuing, the legal debate over social media design, youth safety and corporate responsibility remains unresolved.
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