YouTube has settled a social media addiction case brought by a 15-year-old in Florida, marking the latest legal victory for a teenager who claims platforms are deliberately designed to hook young users. The plaintiff, identified only as R.K.C. in court documents, alleged that YouTube, along with other social media giants, built features such as infinite scroll and autoplay to drive compulsive use, causing him anxiety and sleep deprivation.
Google spokesman José Castañeda confirmed the settlement 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.” The company says it has built YouTube “responsibly – working with families to give young people safer, more helpful experiences online” for more than a decade. It launched YouTube Kids in 2015, a version designed and curated for children.
“YouTube settles addiction lawsuit by Florida teen R.K.C., who also sues Meta, TikTok, Snap in July trial.”
R.K.C. is not stopping with YouTube. He is also suing Instagram-parent Meta, TikTok, and Snap Inc in a trial currently set to begin on 27 July in Los Angeles. His attorneys, John Morgan and Emily Jeffcott, said in a statement: “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.”
That first trial involved a 20-year-old California woman, known as K.G.M., who accused Meta and YouTube of intentionally designing platforms to be addictive. She had also sued Snap and TikTok, but both settled before trial for an undisclosed sum. A jury awarded her $6m (£4.5m) in the first court ruling that held Meta and YouTube liable for mental health effects on certain users. The same week, a jury in New Mexico ordered Meta to pay $375m for misleading users over children’s safety.
R.K.C.’s case is one of more than 1,000 similar cases being overseen by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carolyn Kuhl. YouTube also settled another case last month brought by a Kentucky school district that accused the platform, along with Meta, Snap and TikTok, of creating a mental health crisis for its students. The school district sought changes to addictive features and compensation for costs incurred helping children cope, but all companies opted to settle before trial.