Teen withdraws from bellwether social media addiction suit

A 15-year-old New Jersey girl has voluntarily withdrawn her lawsuit against the owners of Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat, according to a court filing on Thursday. The case, identified as P. M-Y., was one of three bellwether trials scheduled for October in a consolidated mass action in Los Angeles state court.

The teen had alleged that Meta Platforms, Google and Snap Inc. contributed to her social media addiction, depression, and self-harm. Her attorney, Emily Jeffcott, said the decision to dismiss the remaining claims was driven by her client's desire to resume her life, while noting that the suit was initiated to push for accountability and protections for young users. TikTok, which was also a defendant, had previously settled with the plaintiff.

Meta, Google, and Snap all confirmed that the dismissal came without any payment. Meta issued a statement pointing to the plaintiff's pre-existing mental health condition, asserting that many similar cases follow the same pattern, and vowing to defend the remaining lawsuits vigorously. YouTube, owned by Google, said the decision affirms its position on providing safe, age-appropriate experiences, while Snap reiterated its focus on user safety tools and resources.

The litigation involves more than 3,300 individual personal injury cases consolidated in California. Two other bellwether cases, brought by teens with similar claims against the same companies, remain on track for an October trial; TikTok has settled those as well. A third bellwether case was dropped in July after the other defendants settled.

This development follows the first individual trial in the litigation, which concluded in March with jury verdicts of $4.2 million against Meta and $1.8 million against Google. In that case, TikTok and Snap settled before trial. The companies have consistently denied allegations of harm and say they take extensive steps to protect young users.