Trial of Meta and Snap begins in Los Angeles: for the first time in such a case, Snap will be a defendant

New trial against Meta and Snap

In Los Angeles, jury selection in another major lawsuit over the alleged harm of social media to young users is expected to begin on Wednesday, AFP reports. For the first time in such a trial, Snap — the owner of Snapchat — will be a defendant alongside Meta. If no new settlements are reached before the trial opens on November 4, the case will proceed against both companies.

Who remains a defendant

The lawsuits were filed by two girls known by the initials SJ and KDB. TikTok and YouTube were also originally named in the case but settled the claims before the trial began, their lawyers said. Meta reached a settlement with SJ but not with KDB. A California state judge consolidated both cases into a single trial.

The nature of the claims and the companies' position

According to court records, the plaintiffs' lawyers will argue that the clients, aged 13 and 15, experienced 'addictive and problematic' use of social media. SJ, a teenager from Illinois, according to her attorneys, began using Snapchat compulsively, which led to mental health problems, an eating disorder, and self-harm. KDB, now an 18-year-old resident of Mississippi, according to her lawyers, developed compulsive use of Meta and Snap products, which worsened her mental and physical health. Meta has previously rejected such claims: in July the company told AFP that it 'will not back down from defending itself against baseless lawsuits.' Snap, for its part, intends to prove that Snapchat differs from Instagram and Facebook because it is primarily a messaging platform.

Context: a string of trials and settlements

This is far from the first trial among thousands of lawsuits filed in the United States over social media harm. Earlier this year in Los Angeles, a jury found Meta and YouTube liable for harm to a user with the initials KGM and awarded a combined $6 million; Meta at the time said it 'respectfully disagreed' with the verdict, while Snap and TikTok settled that lawsuit before trial. Later, Snap, TikTok, and YouTube settled the case brought by RKC, after which the plaintiff withdrew her remaining claims against Meta. Testimony from key witnesses is expected from mid-November, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Instagram head Adam Mosseri, and Snap CEO Evan Spiegel.

Larger payouts in other cases

The Los Angeles trial is taking place against the backdrop of far larger penalties against Meta in other cases. As AFP notes, at the beginning of this month a New Mexico judge ordered the company to pay $25 billion in a case over misleading users about the use of their data, connected to the Cambridge Analytica scandal; earlier, a jury in the same state found the company liable for harm to children, resulting in a $942 million fine. In August, Meta agreed to pay more than $18 billion and change Instagram and Facebook for teenagers, settling a lawsuit by 52 state attorneys general a few days after the start of the trial in California; part of the agreement depended on YouTube and TikTok making similar changes, such as limiting daily screen time.