6 hours ago
5
A Florida teen whose lawsuit claimed Meta’s platforms were to blame for his depression and anxiety dropped his case against the company just days before the trial in Los Angeles was set to start, his attorneys said on Wednesday.
The lawsuit, brought by a 15-year-old boy known as RKC, originally named four defendants, Google’s YouTube, Meta’s Instagram, Snap Inc’s Snapchat and ByteDance’s TikTok, but YouTube and TikTok settled in June. The terms of those settlements were confidential. Snap reached a tentative settlement in the case, Bloomberg reported on Monday.
after newsletter promotion
RKC, who started using social media when he was about eight, said he became addicted to it, losing sleep and suffering from depression and anxiety, according to court filings.
“In light of the overall successful result of the litigation and his concerns about enduring a grueling weeks-long trial, he has elected to withdraw his claims against Meta,” attorneys for RKC said in a statement. “He’s ready to close this chapter and focus on his recovery and engage in therapy as he aspires to have a normal life.”
The dropped case marks a victory for the social media giant after an earlier landmark loss at trial over addiction claims. A spokesperson for Meta said RKC had dropped the claims without receiving any payment.
“The claims never held up, and this outcome makes clear that we will not back away from defending ourselves against baseless lawsuits,” the company said in a statement.
English (US) ·