New York —
Meta will avoid trial in a second lawsuit accusing it of intentionally addicting and harming a teen. The plaintiff dropped the case on Wednesday, days before trial was set to begin.
A Florida teenager going by his initials, R.K.C., sued Meta, TikTok, YouTube and Snap in 2023, alleging that the platforms’ “addictive design” hooked him. He argued that this caused sleep deprivation, suicidal thoughts and other mental health challenges. R.K.C.’s was set to be the second “bellwether” case to go to trial of hundreds of similar cases against the companies, after Meta and YouTube were found liable in the first case earlier this year.
R.K.C. settled his case with YouTube, TikTok and Snap in recent weeks, the terms of which were not disclosed. That left Meta as the sole defendant ahead of trial, which was set to begin with jury selection in Los Angeles Superior Court next week.
But on Wednesday, Meta said R.K.C. had dropped the case against the company without receiving any payment.
