Social media usage cuts across individuals of every age bracket, and a significant number of users, including minors, are addicted to those platforms. According to research by the Pew Research Center, 54 percent of teens claim it would be challenging to stop using social media. The addiction has resulted in severe mental health challenges like depression, eating disorders, self-harm, and suicidal behaviors. A wave of suits against social media companies running Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat platforms allege that the firms knowingly designed their algorithms to addict young users, putting them at risk and prioritizing profit over user safety. If you believe you or your child has an addiction, contact the skilled legal team at Consumer Alert Now. We can listen to your side of the story to determine whether your case is valid and work aggressively to obtain the compensation you deserve regardless of your location in the U.S.

An Overview of the Addiction to Social Media

The addiction to social media is a behavioral issue characterized by being excessively concerned with social media, driven by the uncontrollable urge to use or consume social media content, and dedicating too many hours and effort to social media platforms that cloud other vital aspects of your life.

Viewing and scrolling through social media content has been a rapidly growing popular norm for over a decade. However, the majority of individuals use social media platforms without issues. Still, a percentage of users get addicted to social media and engage in excessive or compulsive use.

Addiction to social media may include the following:

  • Salience — Emotional, cognitive, and behavioral negative changes due to too much preoccupation with social media
  • Mood modification — Excessive usage of social media causes unfavorable modification in emotional composure.
  • Conflict — The addiction can cause interpersonal issues because of excessive usage
  • Withdrawal signs — Once you become addicted and your usage gets restricted or halted, it could lead to harmful emotional and physical symptoms.
  • Relapse — Addicted users to social media promptly revert to their overuse following a period of abstinence.
  • The spectacle of addiction to social media can be mainly due to the dopamine-inducing social environment that social networking platforms offer.
  • Tolerance – Once you are addicted to social media, tolerating lack of usage becomes difficult

How Social Media Addiction Impacts Users

Addiction to social media can cause significant emotional and physical impact. Some common addictions to social media effects include the following:

  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Insomnia
  • Eating disorders
  • Suicidal thoughts or suicide
  • ADHD ( attention deficit hyperactivity disorder)
  • Self-harm
  • Negative body image or body dysmorphia
  • Sexual exploitation
  • Physical harm or death due to performing social media challenges

Symptoms of Social Media Addiction

Some of the ways to know whether you are addicted to social media can include the following:

  • Obsession with social media platforms
  • Lack of interest in other activities you liked before getting hooked to social media
  • Inability to lower or quit social media usage or consumption
  • Withdrawal signs when a person cannot use or access social media sites
  • Concealing from loved ones or friends the actual amount of time you spend on social media
  • Prioritizing social media over school studies, work, or friendships
  • Continuing social media use even after experiencing emotional challenges due to those platforms
  • Using social media platforms to quell negative emotions like loneliness or depression

Allegations Included in the Lawsuits

The section below discussed different allegations against the defendants.

Meta (Instagram and Facebook) Lawsuits

Facebook permits users to interact with family and friends, engage in different activities, and share content. Instagram is a video and photo-centric platform where people can upload videos, photos, or other personal details and learn information through connections and curated feeds.

Instagram and Facebook lawsuits allege that Meta deliberately makes the platforms addictive but does not warn of the psychological and physical health risks. Concealed proof, like leaked documents from former workers, proves the company’s knowledge of the harm.

Plaintiffs assert the following:

  • Meta Inc. platforms have defective age verifications and parental controls.
  • The firm used inappropriate notifications to grow engagement and failed to warn its users of excessive use.
  • The platform has behavior-driven design characteristics that exploit underage children’s developing brains. The features also promote addictive compulsive and behavioral use and cause undesired social comparisons.

Some of their tactics include:

  • Notification delivery
  • Social comparison
  • Meaningful social interaction algorithms — MSI determines the content presented to you. It gathers your off-and-on platform behavior details to determine the prioritization of details to populate your feeds with content that yields engagement.
  • Sense of urgency — Notifications use features like stories and Instagram Live to instill a sense of urgency.

Allegations Highlighted in Lawsuits against Snapchat

Snapchat allows its individuals to share photos and videos expiring within ten seconds after being viewed. Plaintiffs allege that it has a defective age verification procedure, harmful characteristics, and no safety measures.

The platform capitalizes on its users’ need for the fear of missing out and social acceptance. Snapchat’s harm stems from its transitory design (the duration you can view snaps). The snap’s view time is ten seconds, while that of snap stories is 24 hours. The concept pressures children to visit the platform frequently to avoid missing content.

Other features designed to keep your child engaged include the following:

  • Snapscore
  • Beauty filters
  • Snapstreak
  • Snap Map
  • Spotlight

According to the lawsuits against Snap, Inc., parental controls are insufficient. Here are the platform’s parental control restrictions:

  • Parents should have their account to link both accounts
  • The “My Eyes Only” feature lets children conceal snaps from their guardians in a folder requiring a password. Content in the fold deletes on its own if a person enters the wrong password.
  • The platform prohibits parents from regulating direct messages and their baby’s connections or using features like disabling geolocation.

Lawsuits Against TikTok

TikTok shares short videos, with at least a third of users younger than 14.

 Social media addiction claims against TikTok pay attention to the absence of parental control characteristics and insufficient age verification that permit juveniles to use its application without supervision. Plaintiffs also urge that the platform uses scheming design methods to increase teenagers' engagement.

Here are the platform’s defects associated with  parental controls and page verification:

  • Children can use the platform without signing up
  • Minors do not require parental consent to sign up
  • The platform does not verify age to prove the date of birth the user enters when signing up

In 2020, TikTok introduced a “Family Pairing” characteristic that allows parents to control restricted content, screen time, and direct messaging. However, the feature had the following issues:

  • You, the parent, cannot regulate when or the frequency at which their children receive notifications.
  • You must know your child’s account
  • You should sign up for your account
  • You can only pair the account on a mobile app

The claim also alleged that TikTok is tailored to increase engagement and went ahead to create features addictive to children. These features are as follows:

  • Auto-play — You cannot disable this feature for videos to start playing automatically
  • Continuous scroll — Users swipe their screen up to switch to different videos; each swipe comes with a dopamine rush. Additionally, TikTok chooses the videos.
  • It has a primary interface that allows users to enter the flow state.
  • The platform hides the clock on phones — It makes it effortless for individuals to lose track of their time, which can result in overuse.
  • Stories that expire within 24 hours instill the need to visit the platform regularly.
  • TikTok Now

Social Media Lawsuit Eligibility

To file a claim, you must fulfill specific qualifications. The eligibility criteria include the following:

  • Evidence that your or your child’s addiction began before you or your child turned 21
  • You or your child use social media at least three hours every day
  • Proof of treatment for injuries associated with social media use
  • You or your child has been diagnosed with physical or psychological conditions, like anxiety, depression, suicide, eating disorders, self-harm, suicidal thoughts, or loss of life.

Evidence to Gather to File the Lawsuit

Social media addiction lawsuits typically require substantial proof to help you prove the claim. A lawyer can assist you in carefully analyzing the proof necessary to support your case.

Types of proof that can help you substantiate your claim include the following:

  • Phone logs
  • Records of extensive daily social media use
  • Medical documents proving physical or psychological harm due to an addiction to social media
  • Evidence of engagement on social media
  • Proof of treatment for a health condition related to social media addiction

Key Lawsuits Updates

The section below discusses notable occurrences and updates about the lawsuits.

January 2, 2023 — Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation Ruled that Pending Cases to be Consolidated into Class Action MDL

With many people filing social media addiction claims across the county, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation ruled that all pending cases should be consolidated into a class action multi-district litigation in the Northern District of California. Approximately 80 of the cases were pending in federal courts.

July 2023

While the deadline for the motion to dismiss and the corresponding opposition and reply elapsed in June, no motion was brought. The deadline for the Motion to Dismiss on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and the 1st Amendment was August 2023.

Section 230 safeguards internet-based firms from accountability for third-party content. Courts applied Section 230 to many cases, including negligence claims, resulting in plaintiffs believing the defendants will use the law as their defense strategy.

October 13, 2023

California’s JCCP determined that the plaintiffs’ negligence lawsuits will proceed. The court asked the following questions:

  • Whether a social media firm could maximize its advertising revenue and benefits at the expense of its minor users’ health
  • Whether the law offers a remedy

Although the court determined that social media platforms are not “products” to apply product liability laws, it concluded the plaintiffs could file a suit based on negligence. The court also determined that the defendants cannot evade responsibility by the 1st Amendment or the federal immunity statute. 

October 24, 2023

A group of attorneys general brought a lawsuit against Meta, with allegations that Instagram and Facebook have addictive features that categorically target teenagers and children. Additionally, the lawsuit claimed that Meta broke its responsibility per the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act by illegally collecting the personal details of young users without their parent’s permission.

November 7, 2023

During a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and Law, a whistleblower testified that Meta knew of the harm its minor users faced on the apps but did not take any measures to curb it. According to  Arturo Bejar, a former Meta employee, the company ignored his research and dismissed safety recommendations.

January 31, 2024

In a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, senators questioned social media CEOs about the risks the platforms pose to young users. The hearing focused on child exploitation and how social media impacts mental health.

CEOs from X, TikTok, Discord, Snapchat, and Meta acknowledged limitations and outlined different initiatives to address the matter. Senators also recognized their failure to pass federal legislation to control how children interact with social media, highlighting lobbying attempts by social media firms and the absence of congressional support.

April 2024

The judge overseeing the coordinated proceedings ordered the involved parties to meet and agree on types of randomly chosen cases for a personal injury bellwether discovery pool.

May 2024

At the federal multidistrict litigation, both parties picked their bellwether trial. The court also randomly selected 24 bellwether cases during California’s coordinated proceeding, hoping the trial would start in June 2025.

Please note that the parties continue negotiating for document production and identifying witnesses.

September 2024

The involved parties continued engaging in discovery while depositions of corporate witnesses were scheduled for later. Additional depositions occurred after more document production from the defendants.

The parties also agreed to have a four-month trial extension to permit time to perform the additional discovery. 

Potential Lawsuit Settlement, Payouts, and Compensation Amount

Potential settlements and payouts in the lawsuit can differ considerably depending on the case facts. Most cases are in the initial litigation stages, making it challenging to estimate the value of cases.

Nevertheless, cases involving suicide can lead to payouts that range between $1,500,000 and $5,000,000, depending on the case facts. Injuries in the claims are expected to vary in seriousness and can include depression, suicidal thoughts, child sexual abuse, and self-harm. Claims involving less serious injuries like diagnosed eating disorders or self-mutilation are expected to have the lowest settlement values.

There is no settlement reached on social media addiction claims. The above projections are founded on the comparison with other mass tort payouts. 

The Basics of a Mass Tort

Mass tort occurs when several plaintiffs suffer injuries from one tort (a civil wrong committed by one individual against another that leads to injuries) from the same defendant(s). A mass tort allows the victims to consolidate the cases to ensure consistency and efficiency.

Plaintiffs do not just come together and form their mass tort. Instead, they have to ask permission from a court that considers the following factors:

  • The number of plaintiffs
  • The plaintiffs’ geographical location
  • The similarities of injuries
  • How claims are related to each other

If the court believes the plaintiffs have met the above factors, it will order the mass tort action and publish notice, allowing interested individuals to join.

Mass torts are a level playing field for plaintiffs overwhelmed by the prospect of taking on an established entity alone. They pool resources and allow plaintiffs to share litigation costs, giving them strength in numbers and increasing the likelihood of obtaining favorable case results. Additionally, they allow plaintiffs' lawyers to share standard details, maximizing the value of each case.

One concern about mass torts is the potential for plaintiffs to feel lost in the crowd when their specific case facts fail to receive personalized attention. This can lead to payouts that do not sufficiently address each plaintiff's damages. There is also the likelihood of lower compensation; the total settlement amount is shared among all plaintiffs.

What to Expect In Your Mass Tort Claim

As a plaintiff in a mass tort lawsuit, you should understand the different phases of the procedure you will navigate with the help of your legal counsel. These phases include the following:

Analyzing Documents

To know your case’s strength, your attorney will thoroughly analyze many documents, including injury allegations, and plaintiffs’ statements, and carefully review your medical history to check for any pre-existing issues. Full disclosure avoids surprises, as the defense will examine your medical background.

Identifying Consistencies

Mass tort attorneys must find consistency among plaintiffs to make the case a mass tort: the more cases and proof, the stronger the case’s direction. Consistency influences favorable compensation, emphasizing the need for cautious inclusion founded on the eligibility criteria.

Filing the Federal Lawsuit

Next, attorneys consolidate mass tort cases and file them in federal court to streamline the legal procedure regardless of the plaintiff’s location. The decision to file the claim in federal or state court hinges on the litigator's evaluation, and most mass tort cases are handled in federal courts.

MDLs and Bellwether Trials

A bellwether trial is a sample jury trial conducted before the main hearings, selected from the most severe and identical cases to measure potential case outcomes. The bellwether trial resolutions set the stage for other cases. They test how the juries and judges will respond to arguments and evidence. If the judge rules in the defense’s favor, other cases could proceed to trial.

Case Resolution or Settlement

The final stage consists of resolutions or settlements, with varying timelines depending on the claims’ complexity. Settlements could take several months or even years, and many cases ultimately settle.

Please note that you can appeal the court ruling after the trial.

After the settlement, compensation is awarded based on personal damages. Defendants mostly propose stipulated settlements to dodge expensive court decisions. While there are no fixed timelines, the possibility of a negotiated settlement with a hefty payout increases with more claims and significant proof against the defendant in mass tort cases that could span many years.

Will Section 230 Protect Tech Companies from Social Media Addiction Claims?

Section 230 is a federal rule that protects firms from accountability regarding content posted on their platforms by third parties. Therefore, if someone posts defamatory content on social media, the individual can be sued for harm, but the company cannot be held responsible.

Additionally, tech firms can use Section 230 to avoid responsibility for controlling content that breaks the law or breaches the platform’s guidelines, provided the decisions and limitations are made in good faith.

Responding to the MDL discussed above, tech companies claimed the court should dismiss the cases against them based on the First Amendment and Section 2302. However, the judge disagreed, discovering that the protections bar a few plaintiff’s product liability cases against the defendants, allowing the cases in the MDL to proceed.

Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act is a federal law that requires online services and website operators, including social media platforms, to safeguard the privacy of children under 13.

The law highlights the following:

  • The sites should ask for verifiable parental consent for use or collection of minor’s personal information
  • How and when to seek consent from a guardian or parent
  • The operator’s responsibility regarding minors’ safety and privacy, including limitations on strategies and types of marketing targeting juveniles below 13

While COPPA does not define how website operators can gain parental consent, the Federal Trade Commission has guidelines that companies should follow. They include the following:

  • A display of downloadable parental consent forms
  • Make an effort to notify parents about their child’s data collection
  • Follow procedures to safeguard children’s privacy

Find Skilled Legal Representation Near Me

Numerous people addicted to social media or have suffered from mental health conditions from their use are filing lawsuits against major platforms like Snapchat, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. Some of the adverse effects include poor academic performance, insomnia, depression, low self-esteem, and suicide. The lawsuits claim the defendants intentionally failed to offer adequate user protection against various types of harm, including addictive algorithms and dangerous content. An MDL consolidates the lawsuits, and the seasoned legal team at Consumer Alert Now is taking new clients nationwide. We understand the complexity of the legal action and can aggressively fight for your rights and compensation. Please call us at 800-511-0747 to schedule your initial free consultation and learn whether you have a case.