Days before a scheduled trial, social media company Snap has settled a lawsuit accusing its platform of causing social media addiction, according to reports from many outlet.
According to New York TimesThe settlement was announced Tuesday in California Superior Court in Los Angeles County. The lawsuit against Snap was brought by a 19-year-old known in court documents as KGM, accusing the social media app of designing algorithms and features that lead to addiction and mental health problems.
Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
The lawsuit also names other platforms, including Meta, YouTube, and TikTok. No settlement was made with the platform. Notably, Snap is still a defendant in the same social media addiction case that was filed.
according to documents disclosed in the pending caseSnap employees raised concerns about the risk to the mental health of teenagers dating back at least nine years. The company said the samples were “cherry-picked” and taken out of context.
The plaintiffs in the case drew parallels with Big Tobacco – referring to lawsuits in the 1990s against tobacco companies that hid health risks – claiming that the platform hid information about potential harm from users. They argue that features like infinite scrolling, auto-play videos and algorithmic recommendations have tricked users into continuing to use apps, causing depression, eating disorders, and self-harm, according to the NYT.
Snap CEO Evan Spiegel is scheduled to testify at the trial, which will mark the first time the social media company has faced a jury in an addiction lawsuit — no platform has yet lost a case in court. The remaining cases against Meta, TikTok, and YouTube are set to continue with jury selection starting Monday, January 27, with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg expected to testify.
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If the plaintiffs win, legal experts predict the case could result in a multimillion-dollar settlement and potentially force the platform to redesign its products. But the company so far defend yourself partly by arguing that the same design choices — like algorithmic recommendations, push notifications, and infinite scrolling — are the same as newspapers deciding what stories to publish and speech that is protected under the First Amendment.
Snap did not immediately respond to a request for comment.