LOS ANGELES - A US teenager has withdrawn his lawsuit against Meta, his lawyers announced Wednesday, closing out a closely watched case over social media's harms to children's mental health without a trial. The withdrawal ends the case days before it was due to go before a Los Angeles jury on July 27 — a trial that would have made Meta the sole defendant after YouTube, TikTok and Snap reached confidential settlements.
The plaintiff, identified by his initials RKC, is a 15-year-old from Florida who claims compulsive social media use contributed to anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts for which he continues to receive treatment.
His case was selected as a bellwether to help resolve thousands of similar lawsuits across the country.
A first bellwether trial concluded in March, when a Los Angeles jury ordered Meta and Google to pay a 20-year-old woman, KGM, $6 million — a historic first.
“RKC came into this process wanting to hold social media companies accountable and push for changes to protect young people like himself. He did that,” attorneys Emily Jeffcott and Rahul Ravipudi said in a joint statement.
