Snap Settles Teen Harm Lawsuit Over Snapchat Addictive Features

Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, has reached a settlement in a lawsuit brought by two teenagers who accused the company of designing addictive features, thereby contributing to their depression, anxiety, and eating disorders. The lawsuit will not proceed because of the settlement, and the plaintiffs' lawyers said they are pleased with the outcome. The case was a test case, and thousands of similar social media harm cases remain pending.

Claims and settlement

Two teenagers, a 16-year-old girl from Illinois and an 18-year-old from Mississippi, claim to have been using Snapchat since the age of 9. They argue that addictive features such as autoplay, infinite scrolling, and Snapstreaks drove compulsive habits. Snap rejected the claim that its platform was specifically designed to addict young people and said that measures were taken to make the app safe for them to express themselves.

Due to the settlement, the lawsuit will not proceed. The lawyers for the plaintiffs are pleased with the settlement. Trial attorneys John Morgan and Emily Jeffcott said in a statement that their ultimate goal is to hold these social media companies accountable for how their actions have impacted millions of children across the country, and that these settlements allow them to keep building toward that goal.

Snap's response and safeguards

It would have been the first lawsuit against Snap over social media's impact on teens, after the company settled the other cases that had been scheduled for trial. One of the people who was expected to take the stand was Snap CEO Evan Spiegel. A company spokesperson told Reuters 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.

Wider legal landscape

This case was a test case. There are still thousands of similar cases involving thousands of victims pending. In the US, such so-called bellwether cases are used to determine the outcome of a lawsuit so that the thousands of other cases can then be resolved more quickly. According to the plaintiffs' lawyers, the next bellwether trials are scheduled to begin in March 2027.

The plaintiffs had previously reached settlements with Meta, TikTok, and YouTube. In August, Meta settled a lawsuit over mental health issues caused by social media for $16.68 billion. Meta's settlement came only a few months after a New Mexico court ordered the company to pay $375 million over misleading users about the safety of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, and enabling child sexual exploitation on its platforms.

Sources: Cybernews