Meta settled the lawsuit on the eve of the Los Angeles trial: Snap remains the sole defendant

Meta settled the lawsuit on the eve of the trial

Meta reached an out-of-court settlement in a landmark case over the alleged harms of social media, AFP reported on Friday, citing the plaintiffs' lawyers. As a result, Snap remains the sole defendant in the trial, which is set to open in Los Angeles next week: jury selection began on Wednesday, and opening statements are scheduled for November 4.

Who is suing over what

The lawsuits were filed by two young women known by the initials SJ and KDB; a California state judge consolidated their cases into a single trial. According to court filings, the lawyers will argue that the clients encountered 'addictive and problematic' apps, having started using them at ages 13 and 15 respectively. TikTok and YouTube were also named in the case, but both previously settled the plaintiffs' claims; Meta, moreover, had already reached a settlement with SJ.

The parties' positions

The terms of the settlement with Meta are confidential, but sources close to the company told AFP that the decision was made for business reasons. Emily Jeffcott, a lawyer for one of the plaintiffs, said she remains committed to children's safety on social media and to 'holding tech companies accountable.' A Meta representative described the settlements as a routine part of the 'bellwether' trial — a series of test cases against the company in Los Angeles. Snap said earlier this week that it believes the evidence will show the company put its community first, and that the allegations 'fundamentally misrepresent' the plaintiffs' experience on Snapchat; the company did not respond to an AFP request for comment. If Snap does not settle, the trial will begin next week.

Context: a series of trials and the price of settlements

This case is part of a wave of thousands of lawsuits over harm to children and teenagers filed across the United States. In the first 'bellwether' trial earlier this year, a jury found Meta and YouTube jointly liable for harm to user KGM and awarded a total of $6 million; Snap and TikTok settled that lawsuit before trial. Later, Snap, TikTok and YouTube settled the RKC case, after which the plaintiff withdrew her remaining claims against Meta, allowing the company to avoid trial without a settlement. In August, Meta agreed to pay more than $18 billion and to change Instagram and Facebook for teenagers, settling a lawsuit by 52 state attorneys general — a day after testimony from Instagram head Adam Mosseri and before Mark Zuckerberg was due to be called. Earlier this month, a New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion in a case over misleading users about the use of their data, connected to the Cambridge Analytica scandal; a jury in that state also found the company liable for harm to children, adding $942 million. As AFP notes, settling before trial allows companies to contain legal costs and potential penalties, and spares executives from testifying: in the upcoming trial, Zuckerberg and Mosseri were expected as key witnesses, and Snap CEO Evan Spiegel would have taken the stand if the case had gone to trial.