Snap reaches settlement in social media addiction lawsuit -- report

Snap (SNAP) has reached a tentative settlement with the plaintiff in a social media addiction lawsuit, according to Bloomberg.

Terms of the settlement were not disclosed, consistent with similar agreements reached by Google’s (GOOG) (GOOGL) YouTube and TikTok. Meta Platforms (META) remains a plaintiff in the case set for trial next week.

The first such case involving the addictive qualities of social media platforms like Facebook (META) and YouTube (GOOG) (GOOGL) found the defendants liable for the plaintiff’s mental health struggles and awarded the 20-year-old plaintiff $6M in damages. 

There are currently 2,893 active social media addition lawsuits pending involving individuals and school districts. These lawsuits claim platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube are intentionally designed to be addictive to minors without disclosing the mental and physical addictive qualities. These lawsuits seek to argue that the platforms' design features fall outside the protections afforded by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.