YouTube and its parent company Google reached a confidential settlement a month before a scheduled Los Angeles social media harm trial. Its competitors Meta, TikTok and Snap will still appear in court next month.
“YouTube’s decision to resolve this case before having to face a jury speaks for itself,” plaintiff’s attorneys John Morgan and Emily Jeffcott said in a written 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 with insidious features like autoplay and infinite scroll, all with the aim of increasing profits at the expense of the mental health of our youth. The tide of the law and public opinion are shifting.”
The settlement did not disclose the amount YouTube paid out. The bellweather social media trial is set to begin July 27 in Los Angeles. A 15-year-old Black teenager R.K.C. will go head to head with three tech giants Meta, TikTok and Snap, stating that being on social media from the age of eight negatively contributed to his mental health.
“This matter has been amicably resolved and our focus remains on building age-appropriate products and parental controls that deliver on that promise,” Google spokesman José Castañeda wrote in an email.
This case mirrors one from earlier this year where a 20-year-old woman Kaley G.M. was awarded $6 million in damages — 70% of which was paid by Meta and 30% by Google. Both TikTok and Snap reached confidential settlements with Kaley in the weeks before her trial.
R.K.C.’s case differs from Kaley’s as he is five years younger and still a minor. Kaley primarily dealt with body dysmorphia, whereas R.K.C’s more heavily focuses on the addictive nature of autoplay and infinite scroll.
R.K.C. is the second of nearly 2,500 plaintiffs in a Southern California suit against the tech giants, claiming that the social media and streaming platforms were designed in a way to increase addiction and worsen depression, anxiety and body dysmorphia in minors.
Another March case in New Mexico found Meta liable for misleading consumers about the safety risks its platforms pose to children. The jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million in damages.
There are eight more bellweather trials in the works. If they all reach similar verdicts, they could be used in a larger global settlement that could see the companies paying out billions.
