On March 25, 2026, a U.S. jury reached a verdict in Los Angeles, California, on the first bellwether social media addiction case to reach trial. After more than 40 hours of deliberation, the jury ordered Meta and YouTube to pay $3 million in damages after finding both platforms negligent in the design or operation of their platforms. The jurors later awarded an additional $3 million in punitive damages after deciding the companies acted with malice, oppression, or fraud in harming children with their platforms. The lawsuit, brought by a 20-year-old plaintiff known by her initials KGM, stated that she became addicted to social media as a child and that her addiction exacerbated her mental health struggles. KGM stated that she began using YouTube at age 6 and Instagram at age 9. The jury found Meta 70% liable and YouTube 30% liable, as reflected in the breakdown of the $3 million in punitive damages, with Meta having to pay $2.1 million and YouTube paying $900,000. Both Meta and YouTube disagree with the jury’s decision and plan to appeal. Social media platforms TikTok and Snapchat were also involved in the lawsuit; however, they settled with the plaintiff before trial began, and the settlement details are unknown.
This case is one of more than over 1,000 similar lawsuits alleging that social media giants Snapchat, Meta, YouTube, and TikTok knowingly implemented an algorithm that targets youthful users with content harmful to their mental health and self-image in order to make a profit. The verdict of this case is a huge win for social media addiction attorneys and sets the precedent for the thousands of cases still to go to trial.
Why Did Snapchat and TikTok Settle Before Trial?
Snapchat and TikTok settling before the first bellwether trial is speculated to be a trial tactic. Bellwether cases chosen by the plaintiff’s attorneys tend to be the cases they believe are the strongest against the defendants. Thus, the defendants entering into a settlement agreement may be a tactic so that they can try the less strong cases first and attempt to secure a win. Additionally, by settling, Snapchat and TikTok’s higher-ups did not have to testify in the case, which allows them to see how other companies handle testifying and get an idea of the plaintiff lawyers’ trial strategy.
What are the Claims in the Social Media Addiction Lawsuit?
Meta, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, and Discord are all part of the social media addiction lawsuit alleging that these platforms intentionally created their algorithms to be addictive to children and teens, and that the companies knew or should have known that their products could cause emotional or physical harm, yet they failed to warn users of the risk. Additionally, the plaintiffs allege that the social media giants owed a heightened duty of care because the complaints involve minors. The current lawsuits seek to hold the aforementioned social media companies liable on the basis of strict liability and negligence for the following:
- Algorithms that promote compulsive use,
- Never-ending feeds,
- Lack of warnings when users are signing up,
- Lack of any method to monitor and self-restrict the length and frequency of use,
- Barriers to voluntarily deleting or deactivating accounts,
- Lack of meaningful age verification processes,
- Lack of effective parental controls or monitoring mechanisms,
- Lack of labels on filtered images and videos, and
- Intrusive notification timing designed to lure users back to the platforms.
Who Can File a Social Media Addiction Lawsuit?
Parents of children or teens who extensively used social media platforms like Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, or Discord and developed a mental health disorder that required treatment may be eligible to file a social media addiction lawsuit. If your child has experienced anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, self-harm, suicidal ideation, or eating disorders as a result of social media addiction, you are encouraged to contact a social media addiction lawyer immediately. It is important to reach out to a social media addiction attorney as soon as possible, as the statute of limitations for these cases varies by state and may be extended for minors. If you do not file your lawsuit within your state’s statute of limitations, you may lose your right to seek compensation for damages.
Other Recent Social Media Lawsuits
In addition to the verdict reached in California, on March 24, 2026, a New Mexico jury slammed Meta with a $375 million verdict after finding that the company violated the state’s consumer protection law by misleading users about the safety of Meta’s platforms and by failing to stop child exploitation on its platforms. The case was built on an undercover operation involving the creation of a fake social media profile of a 13-year-old girl. The profile was quickly inundated with explicit images and targeted solicitations from child abusers. Additionally, during the trial, prosecutors revealed legal findings detailing internal messages from Meta employees discussing how Mark Zuckerberg’s 2019 announcement to make Facebook Messenger end-to-end encrypted by default would impact the ability to disclose to law enforcement some 7.5 million child sexual abuse material reports. Meta disagrees with the verdict and has announced it will appeal.
Although this case is not part of the social media addiction lawsuit, it serves as a turning point because it is the first jury verdict against Meta on claims tied to child safety and platform design. This case gives social media addiction attorneys more to reference as litigation continues.
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