Credit: Jay Openiano on Unsplash
Snap has settled with two teenagers who accuse Snapchat and other social media apps of addictive design. Their trial in Los Angeles was days away. The terms are confidential.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs announced the settlement on Monday, Reuters reported. Jury selection began last week. The trial was set to start on Wednesday, according to Hillel Aron of Courthouse News Service.
The plaintiffs had already settled with Meta, TikTok and Google’s YouTube, which left Snap as the last defendant. Courthouse News reported that Snap chief executive Evan Spiegel and Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg were due to testify. It would have been Snap’s first trial in the wider litigation.
The claims
The court identifies the plaintiffs only by their initials. Reuters reported that S.J. is a 16-year-old girl from Illinois. K.D.B. is an 18-year-old woman from Mississippi. They say they started using YouTube as young as 3 and the other apps at around 9.
They blame features such as autoplay and infinite scroll for compulsive use. They say it led to depression, anxiety and eating disorders. The companies reject claims that they built their apps to addict young people.
“What these teenagers need is a permanent fix, real design changes that protect kids, not case-by-case patches,” said plaintiffs’ lawyer Mark Lanier.
In a statement, Snap said both sides were pleased to resolve the matter amicably. The company said it has built safeguards, launched safety tutorials and worked with experts.
“Because safety is never finished, we remain committed to continually strengthening the safety, privacy, and well-being of our community,” Snap said.
Thousands more cases
It was a bellwether case, one of a few drawn from thousands of pending lawsuits to test the claims. In March, a Los Angeles jury found Meta and YouTube negligent in the first one. It awarded a young woman $6 million in damages, and both companies have appealed. The next plaintiff’s case ended before trial.
The next bellwether trials are due to start in March, the plaintiffs’ lawyers said. Snap also faces a lawsuit from Pennsylvania over Snapchat’s design.
In August, Meta agreed settlements worth up to $18bn with nearly every US state and territory, Reuters reported. Of that, $5bn depends on the states reaching similar deals with Snap, TikTok and YouTube.
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