Snapshot: Since 2022, thousands of lawsuits have been filed in California state courts against Meta, Snap, ByteDance, and Google by children, teenagers, their families and school districts over allegations that the addictive nature of the social media platforms caused mental and physical harm to young people.  In March 2026, in the first test trial, over the mental health issues of a woman who used social media platforms compulsively as a child, the jury found Meta and Google liable, awarding her USD6m in damages. Meta and Google said that they will appeal the verdict. In June 2026, a California state court judge denied their request for a new trial.

Factual Background

Meta (Facebook and Instagram's parent company), Snap (Snapchat's parent company), ByteDance (TikTok's parent company), and Google (YouTube's parent company) are technology companies that own and operate various social media platforms. These platforms utilise features such as infinite scrolling, auto-play video, or personalised algorithms.

Legal Argument

The plaintiffs bring several claims centered around the defendants’ alleged negligence in deliberately designing and marketing addictive products for children and teenagers, despite the defendants' awareness of mental health harms occurring because of their products. Plaintiffs also claim that Meta fraudulently concealed information they possessed regarding the possible safety risks of their products to children and teenagers. The plaintiffs seek monetary compensation.

The defendants deny the allegations, noting that teenagers’ mental health is a complex issue without clear causation and disputes the plaintiff’s portrayal of addiction in the context of social media. The defendants also point towards third-party content, not product design, as the principal source of harm. Google and Snap separately insist that YouTube and Snapchat, respectively, are not social media platforms.

Legal Proceedings

Throughout 2022 and 2023, families and school districts filed thousands of personal injury and product liability lawsuits against Meta, Snap, ByteDance, and/or Google over allegations that the companies designed their platforms to be addictive to minors.

On 15 May 2023, these cases were consolidated into JCCP 5255 and the plaintiffs collectively filed a master complaint against the defendants seeking compensatory and punitive damages as part of the coordinated proceeding.

On 27 January 2026, trial began in the first test case concerning a woman alleging that her use of addictive social media products as a child substantially contributed to her mental health issues. Snap and TikTok settled shortly before trial.

On 25 March 2026, the jury in the first test case found Meta and Google liable, awarding USD6m in damages. Meta and Google have stated that they will appeal the verdict. In June 2026, a California state court judge denied their request for a new trial.

Test cases, usually involving a plaintiff that is highly representative of many other plaintiffs in the coordinated proceeding, help both parties understand the strengths and weaknesses of their legal arguments, provide a concrete valuation estimate for future settlement purposes, and save the court system from conducting hundreds of similar trials.

On 23 June 2026, Google's YouTube settled before trial began in the second test case, set to take place on 27 July 2026.

On 22 July 2027, the plaintiff in the second test trial dropped their lawsuit after settling with all defendants except Meta.

The case is ongoing.

Similar litigation is ongoing elsewhere in the US. Thousands of other lawsuits have been filed by other individual plaintiffs and school districts in federal court, coordinated under MDL No. 3047. Individual state governments have also filed lawsuits in their respective state courts.

News Items

USA: Jury finds Meta and Google liable in first California state-level social media addiction trial, NPR, 25 Mar 2026

USA: First state-level trial against social media companies over alleged mental health harms to children begins, The Guardian, 27 Jan 2026

Court Documents

Denial of defendants’ motion for summary judgment in K.G.M. trial, 5 Nov 2025

Order partially sustaining and partially overruling defendant’s demurrer, 13 Oct 2023

Coordinated Plaintiff’s Master Complaint, 15 May 2023