Snapchat parent Snap Inc. has reached a settlement during a trial over claims brought by two teenagers who say the company designed the platform to be addictive, causing their depression, anxiety and eating disorders, attorneys for the plaintiffs said on Nov. 2.
Jury selection began last week for the trial, the second in Los Angeles state court over claims brought by young people who say they became addicted to social media after Snap, Meta Platforms, TikTok and Alphabet’s YouTube designed their platforms to encourage compulsive use.
The plaintiffs had previously settled with Meta, TikTok and YouTube.
The trial was set to be the first for Snap in the sweeping litigation over social media’s impact on teens, after the company settled the other cases that had been scheduled for trial. The company’s chief executive, Evan Spiegel, had been expected to testify.
The case had been selected from thousands of pending lawsuits as a bellwether intended to test the claims against Snap and the other companies and potentially influence how similar cases are resolved. The next bellwether trials are scheduled to begin in March, according to the plaintiffs’ lawyers.
A Snap spokesperson said in a statement that the company has built safeguards, launched safety tutorials, and partnered with experts, and remains committed to “continually strengthening the safety, privacy, and well-being of our community.”
The plaintiffs, a 16-year-old from Illinois and an 18-year-old from Mississippi, say they began using YouTube as early as age 3 and the other platforms around age 9, developing compulsive habits they blame on features such as autoplay and infinite scroll.
The companies have rejected claims their platforms were designed to addict young people, and say they have taken action to make the apps safe places for young people to express themselves.
