YouTube has settled a social media addiction case brought by a 15-year-old in Florida — a fresh legal blow for online platforms accused of fuelling a mental health crisis among children. The teenager, identified only as R.K.C. in court documents, alleged that YouTube and other social media firms had designed their platforms to be addictive. Google spokesman José Castañeda said in a statement to the BBC: “This matter has been amicably resolved and our focus remains on building age-appropriate products and parental controls that deliver on that promise.”
R.K.C. is also suing Instagram-parent Meta, TikTok, and Snap Inc in a trial set to begin on 27 July in Los Angeles. His allegations will be the second bellwether case overseen by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carolyn Kuhl, who is managing more than 1,000 similar cases in California. R.K.C.’s attorneys John Morgan and Emily Jeffcott said: “As jurors saw in the first bellwether trial, leadership at these social media companies have been strategizing for years to hook children early and maximize their usage.”
“YouTube settles social media addiction lawsuit with 15-year-old Florida teen ahead of trial against Meta, TikTok, and Snap.”
The first trial, earlier this year, involved a 20-year-old California woman known as K.G.M., who accused Meta and YouTube of intentionally designing platforms to be addictive to young users. She also sued Snap and TikTok, but both settled before trial for an undisclosed sum. A jury awarded K.G.M. $6m — the first time a court had found Meta and YouTube liable for the mental health effects of their platforms on certain users. The same week, a jury in New Mexico ordered Meta to pay $375m for misleading users about child safety.
R.K.C.’s claims echo K.G.M.’s, according to court documents. He contends that features like infinite scroll and autoplay — which continuously show new content — drove compulsive use that became an addiction, causing him anxiety and sleep deprivation. Google told the BBC it has built YouTube “responsibly — working with families to give young people safer, more helpful experiences online” for more than a decade, pointing to YouTube Kids, launched in 2015 as a version designed for children. Last month, Google also settled a case brought by a Kentucky school district that accused YouTube, Meta, Snap, and TikTok of creating a mental health crisis for its students. All companies opted to settle rather than go to trial. The district had sought changes to addictive features and reimbursement for costs schools incurred helping children.