Social media on trial: tech giants face lawsuits over addiction, safety, and mental health – The Verge

If Meta’s going down, it’s taking TikTok and YouTube with it

2026-08-27T10:24:29-04:00

Meta might be on the hook for $17.1 billion and a host of app changes under a new kids safety settlement, but it's already spinning the deal to its advantage.

After years of being the national punching bag for social media harms, Meta has reached a settlement with 47 US states and several districts and territories that gives it a rare opportunity: A chance to flex on its rivals. "We want to ensure teens benefit from this new industry standard, but we cannot do it alone," Meta says in an "Open Letter" that is also running as a full-page ad in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Washington Post. "These protections will only be truly ef …

Read the full story at The Verge.

All the ways Instagram and Facebook are changing for teens

2026-08-26T15:56:06-04:00

Meta just agreed to make sweeping changes for teens as part of a child safety settlement reached with attorneys general across the US. Under the agreement, Meta must apply new safeguards across Instagram and Facebook that will change how teens interact with the social media platforms, as well as restrict their use during certain times.

The settlement stems from a nationwide lawsuit alleging Meta, Google, TikTok, and Snap failed to protect children and made their platforms "addictive" by design. A group of 51 US states and territories signed the agreement, including New York, New Jersey, California, Nevada, South Carolina, Washington, Illino …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Meta agrees to heavy restrictions on teen users in major lawsuit settlement

2026-08-26T10:17:47-04:00

Mark Zuckerberg. | Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images

Meta settled its latest kids online safety trial with a group of 29 state attorneys general, sparing it from the remainder of a trial that could have cost it hundreds of billions of dollars.

Under the terms of the settlement, which resolves claims by a larger group of 47 states and several districts and territories, Meta agreed to come up with an age assurance standard that is subject to independent testing, and must have a false positive rate no higher than 10 percent for users aged 16 to 17, and 3 percent for users aged 13 to 15. The company also agreed to give teens the option to turn off personalized feeds, meaning that they won't be s …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Meta won’t have to face the next planned social media addiction trial

2026-07-22T18:03:53-04:00

Less than a week before Meta's lawyers were set to return to a Los Angeles courtroom, the plaintiff accusing the platform of inflicting harm dropped the case. Brought by 15-year-old Florida plaintiff going by initials R.K.C., the case was set to be the second in a set of bellwether trials meant to test legal arguments that social media giants allegedly broke the law by creating features that hooked and harmed teens.

TikTok, Snap, and YouTube previously settled claims brought by R.K.C. for undisclosed amounts. "In light of the overall successful result of the litigation and his concerns about enduring a grueling weekslong trial, he has elect …

Read the full story at The Verge.

One of Meta’s big legal reckonings just ended in a settlement

2026-05-22T07:47:06-04:00

After back-to-back losses in trials grappling with its impact on teens' mental health, Meta just settled what was supposed to be its next legal battle with Kentucky's Breathitt County School District. Google's YouTube, Snap, and TikTok all recently settled similar claims brought by the school district, which was seeking payment from the companies to cover the cost of combatting social media-related mental health harms.

The trial had been set to begin in June as the first bellwether trial of the federal multidistrict litigation (MDL) cases, which include claims from school districts, state attorneys general, and individuals against the soci …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Snap, YouTube, and TikTok settle suit over harm to students

2026-05-18T05:46:17-04:00

Schools say social media is hurting grades and creating a mental health crisis. | Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge

Snap, YouTube, and TikTok have settled the first lawsuit of its kind, alleging that social media addiction has cost public schools massive amounts of money, according to Bloomberg. The suit, filed by the Breathitt County School District in Kentucky, claims that social media has disrupted learning and created a mental health crisis, straining budgets. The terms of the settlement have not been revealed yet, and Meta is still facing a trial in the same suit, which is viewed as a bellwether for over 1,000 similar lawsuits across the country

This follows an earlier case, settled by Snap and TikTok, in which a 19-year-old plaintiff claimed signif …

Read the full story at The Verge.

New Mexico has a plan to overhaul Facebook and Instagram

2026-05-06T11:18:24-04:00

Still fresh off its recent $375 million jury verdict against Meta, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez's office began arguing for even greater asks in the second phase of a landmark trial. On Monday, an attorney for the state, David Ackerman, pressed the court for a $3.7 billion abatement plan that would require Meta to fund programs for mental health providers, law enforcement, and educators. Other requests include changes to Meta's services - like age verification, a 99 percent detection rate for new child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and no more late-night or school-day notifications for teens in the state.

During opening statement …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Meta’s historic loss in court could cost a lot more than $375 million

2026-05-04T05:27:04-04:00

Mark Zuckerberg. | Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez won a historic sum of $375 million in a landmark child safety case against Meta earlier this year. But the next stage of the fight could be even more consequential for Meta and the social media industry at large.

Beginning Monday, attorneys for Meta and New Mexico will return to a Santa Fe courthouse for a three-week public nuisance trial, where they'll argue over the changes the AG wants the judge to order Meta make to Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Those changes include adding age verification for New Mexico users, prohibiting end-to-end encryption for users under 18 and capping their use to 90 …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Meta threatens to pull its apps from New Mexico if forced to make ‘technologically impractical’ changes

2026-04-30T15:05:01-04:00

Mark Zuckerberg. | Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images

Meta says it may be forced to pull Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp from New Mexico if the attorney general gets his way. The state is demanding a host of changes that the company says are impossible to achieve.

After winning a $375 million jury award against Meta in a trial that argued the company misled users in the state about the safety of its products, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez is asking the state court to order sweeping changes to the platforms. Among the asks are a prohibition on end-to-end encryption for minors, implementing age verification, and detecting 99 percent of new child sexual abuse material uploaded to its …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Meta and YouTube found negligent in landmark social media addiction case

2026-03-25T16:26:38-04:00

The jury in a landmark trial testing claims about social media addiction against Meta's Instagram and Google's YouTube determined that the two companies failed to warn users about the risks of using their products. The jury found the companies' negligence was a substantial factor in harms like the mental health issues sustained by a now 20-year-old woman Kaley G.M., who used Instagram and YouTube.

The jury ordered both companies to pay a total of $3 million in compensatory damages, with Meta responsible for 70 percent of that balance, according to jurors' responses shared by a firm representing plaintiffs including Kaley. Jurors found that …

Read the full story at The Verge.