Teen Drops Bellwether Lawsuit Against Meta, Google and Snap Over Social Media Addiction Ahead of Trial

A 15-year-old girl from New Jersey has dropped her lawsuit against Meta Platforms, Google and Snap Inc., abandoning a test case that was among the first scheduled to determine how juries might view claims that major social media companies deliberately designed their platforms to be addictive to young users, according to Reuters.

The plaintiff, identified in California court records as P.M-Y., withdrew her claims Thursday, Aug. 20, according to a court filing, without receiving any payment from the remaining defendants. TikTok, which had also been named as a defendant in her case, had previously settled her claims separately.

The teen’s lawsuit had alleged that Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, along with Google and Snap, contributed to her social media addiction, depression and self-harm. Emily Jeffcott, an attorney representing P.M-Y., said in a statement that her client chose to dismiss the remainder of her claims out of a desire to move forward with her life. Jeffcott said her client had “initiated this process with the goal of holding social media companies accountable and to push for changes to protect young people like herself.”

P.M-Y.’s case was among more than 3,300 individual personal injury lawsuits consolidated in California state court in Los Angeles, part of a broader wave of litigation brought by individuals, states and school districts against major social media companies over allegations their platforms cause harm to children. Her case had been selected as one of three so-called “bellwether,” or test, cases scheduled to go to trial in October. Attorneys frequently rely on bellwether verdicts to gauge how juries are likely to respond to similar claims across a larger pool of consolidated cases, using those early results to help assess the potential value of remaining lawsuits and to inform broader settlement negotiations.

Meta addressed the dismissal in a statement, drawing a distinction it said applied broadly across the consolidated litigation. “This plaintiff had a significant mental health condition that pre-dated her use of social media, and it’s clear that many of these cases fit the same pattern,” the company said, adding that it intends to vigorously defend against the remaining cases still pending.

Google-owned YouTube characterized the dismissal as consistent with its own longstanding position on platform safety. “Our longstanding position that we provide safe, age-appropriate experiences and strong parental controls for young people and families,” the company said in a statement responding to the case’s dismissal. A Snap spokesperson separately said the company remains focused on strengthening safeguards, tools and educational resources designed to support users’ safety, privacy and overall well-being.

Two additional bellwether cases brought by teenagers making similar claims against the same group of companies remain scheduled for trial in October, according to court records reviewed by Reuters. TikTok has already reached settlements in both of those remaining cases, mirroring its earlier resolution of P.M-Y.’s claims.

The dismissal follows a similar pattern from a separate bellwether case that concluded before reaching trial in July, when a different teenage plaintiff dropped his claims against Meta after the other named defendants in his case had already reached settlements.

The broader litigation has already produced at least one significant jury verdict. The first individual trial within the consolidated litigation concluded in March, resulting in a jury awarding $4.2 million in damages against Meta and $1.8 million against Google in a case brought by a woman who alleged she became addicted to social media platforms at a young age due to their attention-grabbing design. TikTok and Snap had settled that particular case before it reached trial.

Meta is currently defending itself in two separate, larger-scale trials examining similar allegations brought by state governments rather than individual plaintiffs. One trial, which began this week in federal court in Oakland, California, involves claims brought by 29 states alleging Meta designed its platforms to be addictive to children and misled the public regarding their safety. A separate trial addressing similar claims brought specifically by the state of Tennessee is proceeding concurrently in state court in Nashville.

The companies named across this broader wave of litigation have consistently denied the underlying allegations, maintaining that they have implemented extensive measures to protect teenage and younger users on their platforms. Even as individual bellwether cases such as P.M-Y.’s have been dismissed or settled ahead of trial, the two ongoing state-led trials in Oakland and Nashville represent what legal observers have characterized as a more significant near-term test of how courts and juries may ultimately assess the broader claims underlying thousands of similar lawsuits still pending against major social media companies nationwide.

With P.M-Y.’s case now dismissed and two other individual bellwether trials still scheduled for October, attorneys on both sides of the broader litigation are likely to continue closely watching how those remaining test cases unfold, given their potential influence on settlement negotiations and legal strategy across the thousands of similar claims still working their way through the consolidated California litigation and other related lawsuits filed by individuals, school districts and state governments across the country.

This story discusses topics including depression, self-harm and addiction, which can be difficult to read about, particularly as they relate to a minor. If you or someone you know is struggling with self-harm, depression or a mental health crisis, you can call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, available 24/7, or visit 988lifeline.org for additional support and resources.