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Meta Settles Social Media Addiction Lawsuit Before Trial
Confirmed
In Short: Meta has settled a lawsuit brought by an 18-year-old woman over social media addiction, avoiding a trial.
Meta has settled a lawsuit brought by an 18-year-old woman over social media addiction, resolving the case before it was set to go to trial next month. The lawsuit, filed by K.D.B., alleged that Meta and Snapchat parent company Snap designed their social media platforms to foster addictive behavior, causing severe mental and physical health injuries.
K.D.B.'s lawyer, Emily Jeffcott, stated, 'We remain committed to improving safety for kids on social media apps and holding tech companies accountable, and we are pleased to have brought this matter to a just resolution on behalf of our client.' Jeffcott added that the settlement leaves Snap as the sole defendant in the upcoming trial.
In a statement, Meta said, 'We will continue to defend ourselves in court, and we stand by our record. We've spent more than a decade building protections for teens, and our agreement with 52 bipartisan attorneys general goes even further with strict time limits, no access at night, and no notifications during school hours.'
The settlement comes after Meta agreed to pay up to $18 billion to resolve claims from state attorneys general in August. Additionally, in the same month, a New Mexico court ordered Meta to pay $942 million and implement safety measures, including preventing minors from engaging in romantic or sexualized interactions with its AI chatbots.
The social media addiction lawsuits remain open to new cases. As of October 2026, families are still filing individual injury cases, and the federal MDL 3047 held 3,824 pending cases on October 1, 2026, up from 3,137 in August.
The settlement is part of a larger legal battle involving multiple lawsuits against Meta and other social media companies. Two other cases against Meta were dropped, and Meta previously settled with another plaintiff, a 16-year-old from Illinois, also scheduled for trial next week.
Legal experts suggest that Meta is likely to raise due process and other constitutional issues on appeal, which could end up before the New Mexico Supreme Court or U.S. Supreme Court.
The second Los Angeles trial began on October 28, 2026, and new cases are still being filed in MDL 3047 and JCCP 5255, with law firms continuing to review them.
What this adds
The settlement leaves Snap as the sole defendant in the upcoming trial.
Legal experts suggest that Meta is likely to raise due process and other constitutional issues on appeal, which could end up before the New Mexico Supreme Court or U.S. Supreme Court.
What's confirmed
- "Trials, dismissals and settlements are all common in the bellwether process, and this litigation is no exception," she said in a statement.
- "We remain committed to improving safety for kids on social media apps and holding tech companies accountable, and we are pleased to have brought this matter to a just resolution on behalf of our client," Emily Jeffcott, the trial counsel for K.D.B., said in a statement.
- PLEASE NOTE: A verification email will be sent to your address before you can access your trial.
- Zoom out: Two other cases against Meta were dropped, and Meta previously settled with another plaintiff, a 16-year-old from Illinois, also scheduled for trial next week.
What's still developing
- "Each plaintiff alleges that Snap designed Snapchat to maximize the time young users spend on the app, using features such as Snapstreaks, Snapscores, push notifications, and filters, and that their compulsive use of Snapchat caused and contributed to severe mental and physical health injuries, including depression, anxiety, an eating disorder, and self-harm," the spokesperson said.
- Snap disputes the allegations and has defended the company's practices.
- A spokesperson for the Lanier Law Firm, which is representing the plaintiffs, said they will proceed with their complaint against Snap.
- Home » News analysis » A look at major lawsuits against Meta, other social media companies over harms to kids By Barbara Ortutay and Kaitlyn Huamani, AP Technology Writers, published on August 31, 2026 Jason Slothouber, senior prosecutor for the Colorado Attorney General's Office, walks outside court after tech giant Meta reached a settlement to end a landmark trial over teen social media addiction on Aug. 26, 2026, in Oakland, Calif.
- The Tennessee attorney general’s office was a part of the multistate investigation into social media companies that resulted in the 2023 filing against Meta by dozens of states, but opted to file in its own local court.
- Lawyers for SJ and KDB will argue that their clients were exposed to "addictive and problematic" social media apps when they started using them at ages 13 and 15, respectively, according to court documents.
- Meta and YouTube lost the first so-called bellwether case earlier this year, when a jury found them collectively liable for harming a young user known by the initials KGM, and ordered the tech companies to pay a combined $6 million penalty.
- The Muse agent can autonomously send emails, book travel on a person's behalf, sell a car and lower a bill, according to the social media giant.
- Evercore ISI senior managing director Mark Mahaney joins ‘Varney & Co.’ to discuss his Meta outlook following the social media addiction settlement and why he raised his Amazon price target from $315 to $355 as AI reshapes retail.
- Judge Carolyn Kuhl of California Superior Court in Los Angeles County said the court was informed of a settlement with the plaintiff known as K.D.B. last night.
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- Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka on Thursday agreed to take down the artificial intelligence (AI) generated posts published by them on X against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Senior Advocate Gaurav Bhatia (plaintiff).