Social Media Addiction Lawsuit

Our lawyers examine on this page the social media addiction lawsuits being filed across the country. We will explain the basic facts and legal allegations being made in these cases, whether the cases have any merit, and the potential settlement payout for these claims.

We are currently accepting social media addiction lawsuits nationwide. If you have a case, call us today at 888-322-3010 or contact us online.

Social Media Lawsuits News & Recent Updates

New Texas Lawsuit

Yesterday, a woman from Grand Prairie, Texas, filed a lawsuit in the MDL alleging that prolonged use of multiple platforms—including Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube—contributed to her severe mental health injuries. The plaintiff, now 25, claims she began using these platforms during adolescence and suffered lasting psychological harm as a result of the platforms’ design features and alleged failure to protect young users.

The complaint, filed directly in the Northern District of California, names Meta, ByteDance, Snap, and Google entities as defendants and adopts the factual allegations and legal claims outlined in the Second Amended Master Complaint. The plaintiff  asserts that the algorithms, push notifications, and engagement tactics used by these platforms fostered compulsive use and exposure to harmful content, ultimately leading to her injuries.

New Minnesota Lawsuit

In a new lawsuit filed yesterday, a family from Minnesota has joined the social media MDL, alleging that their 14-year-old child suffered severe mental health harms as a result of prolonged and compulsive use of platforms operated by Meta and Google. Filed by a parent on behalf of the minor, the complaint seeks to hold the companies accountable for failing to protect young users from addictive and psychologically damaging online environments.

According to the complaint, the minor began using Instagram and YouTube in 2018 and, by 2024, had developed a range of serious mental health issues, including addiction, depression, anxiety, disordered eating, and self-harm. The family contends that these injuries were not incidental but the foreseeable result of platform designs that exploit adolescent vulnerabilities for engagement and profit.

The lawsuit brings claims for strict liability based on defective design, failure to warn, and multiple negligence theories. It also includes allegations of deceptive practices, fraudulent and negligent concealment, and violations of federal laws related to child sexual exploitation materials—underscoring the broader dangers posed by unregulated online interactions. Additional claims seek relief for loss of parental consortium.

Key Ruling for Plaintiffs in MDL

The court’s latest ruling in the social media MDL is a mixed bag but largely favors plaintiffs, allowing key negligence claims to move forward. The court held that social media companies allegedly “designed their platforms to foster addiction and compulsive use by young users” and failed to implement safeguards, reinforcing that they can’t simply claim neutrality when their own features are at issue.

While the court dismissed claims under criminal child sex abuse material (CSAM) laws, citing Section 230’s civil immunity, it emphasized that “Section 230 does not protect social media companies from criminal prosecution.” The ruling also preserved wrongful death, survival, and loss of consortium claims where allowed under state law, ensuring families can still pursue damages.

It’s not a complete victory, but it keeps the case alive in significant ways. The court’s message is clear: social media platforms can be held accountable for how they design and operate their products, and they can’t escape every claim by hiding behind Section 230.

Social Media Platforms Are Addictive and Target Teens (and Tweens)

At the center of the social media addiction litigation is a clear and well-supported allegation: the major social media platforms were designed to be addictive, and this addictive design disproportionately harms adolescents and young users. This was not incidental. It was not a glitch. It was a product of deliberate corporate strategy, rooted in profit-driven decisions to capture and retain the attention of children and teenagers through behavioral design features, algorithmic manipulation, and exploitative engagement tools.

More than ninety percent of teenagers in the United States now use social media, with the average teen spending roughly three hours per day on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube. These numbers are not the result of organic enthusiasm or neutral user choice. They are the predictable outcome of design choices made by some of the most powerful technology companies in the world — choices specifically intended to maximize user engagement and, by extension, advertising revenue. Adolescents have become the most valuable and the most vulnerable segment of these platforms’ user base.

Why target teens? Because they are developmentally more susceptible to compulsive behavior. Because their brains are still maturing, particularly in areas related to impulse control, emotional regulation, and risk assessment. Because they are highly attuned to social feedback, peer approval, and appearance comparison — all of which are precisely the psychological levers these companies manipulate through the architecture of their products.

The platforms at issue are not passive tools. They are interactive systems programmed to provide users with a continuous stream of algorithmically curated content, fine-tuned to elicit a psychological response. Features such as infinite scrolling, personalized notifications, intermittent variable rewards, and algorithmic feeds have been engineered not to inform or connect, but to prolong usage, reinforce habit loops, and keep users, particularly adolescents, in a near-constant state of engagement. The longer a user stays online, the more data can be harvested, the more ads can be shown, and the more revenue is generated. The harm this causes is not hypothetical. It is measurable, severe, and well-documented.

Internal research by the platforms themselves — including materials exposed through whistleblower disclosures and internal reports — confirms what behavioral scientists have long known and what this litigation brings to the forefront: that social media use, particularly among young people, is linked to increased rates of anxiety, depression, disordered eating, self-harm, and suicidality. That usage is often compulsive, difficult to regulate, and frequently accompanied by withdrawal symptoms when access is limited. And that many young users report using the platforms more than they want to, but feeling unable to stop. Even those of us who are not addicted to social media understand, even if for a moment, that feeling.

These platforms do not simply fail to protect young users from harm. They actively expose them to it. They make it easier for adult strangers to contact minors through direct messaging features. They fail to enforce effective age verification protocols. They promote harmful beauty standards through algorithmic amplification of filtered, appearance-altering content. And they reward users, through social validation metrics like likes and views, for engaging in increasingly extreme or dangerous behavior, including viral “challenges” that have led to serious injuries and deaths.

Bear in mind: these harms were foreseeable. These outcomes were not only predictable, but in many cases predicted, including by the companies’ own engineers and researchers. And the defendants could have changed course. They could have designed safer products. They could have warned users and families. They could have implemented adequate parental controls. But they did not.

They chose growth. They chose engagement. And they chose to put their bottom line above the health and safety of millions of American children.

That is why these companies are being sued.

This litigation seeks to hold them accountable for the foreseeable and preventable harms caused by the defective design of their products — harms that have contributed to a national adolescent mental health crisis, and that have left a generation of young people struggling with the consequences.

Teens Are Particularly Vulnerable to Social Media Addiction

Scientific research confirms that the human brain continues to develop throughout adolescence, particularly in areas responsible for risk assessment, emotional regulation, and impulse control. Since these regions are not yet fully matured, major social media platforms exploit this vulnerability through algorithms designed to keep adolescent users engaged.

When teens receive “likes” or other forms of positive feedback on social media, their brains release dopamine, creating a sense of euphoria. However, this pleasure is short-lived, as the brain quickly adapts by reducing the number of dopamine receptors being stimulated.

With typical positive experiences, the brain naturally returns to a neutral state after a brief period. However, social media algorithms capitalize on the brain’s tendency to seek repeated stimulation, encouraging users to return for another dopamine boost.

Over time, as this cycle persists for months or even years, a teen’s neurological threshold for dopamine activation increases. As a result, they continue using platforms like Facebook and Instagram, not for enjoyment, but simply to feel normal. When they attempt to reduce or quit social media, they often experience classic withdrawal symptoms similar to those seen in substance addiction, including anxiety, irritability, insomnia, and intense cravings.

Injuries Caused By Teen Addiction to Social Media

A growing body of scientific research—including internal studies conducted by social media companies themselves—has revealed that social media addiction can cause severe emotional and even physical harm to teenagers. This evidence, combined with what is now known about the deliberate strategies used to foster addiction, has become a driving force behind the social media lawsuit.

In 2018, a study published by the National Center for Biotechnology Information established a clear link between time spent on social media and increased mental health issues, including depression and suicidal ideation among adolescents. The findings also indicated that excessive social media use correlated with higher rates of self-harm.

By 2021, a long-term study conducted by Brigham Young University (BYU) found that teenage girls who spent 2–3 hours per day on social media had a clinically higher risk of suicide. Even social media companies’ own research confirmed the dangers of their platforms. According to a Wall Street Journal report, Facebook’s internal studies revealed that Instagram use contributed to significant mental health struggles among teenage girls, including suicidal thoughts and eating disorders.

Social Media Addiction Lawsuits

Over the past year, a growing number of product liability lawsuits have been filed across the country against Meta Platforms, Inc. and other major social media companies. These actions are not speculative. They are brought by teenagers who have suffered serious mental health consequences, and by their parents who have watched their children spiral into compulsive and often self-destructive behavior. At the center of these lawsuits is a core legal claim: that social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook are dangerously addictive products that were intentionally designed to exploit the psychological vulnerabilities of adolescents.

The majority of these suits focus on Meta and its flagship platforms, Instagram and Facebook. Plaintiffs allege that these platforms contain defective design features that are not just habit-forming — they are neurologically manipulative, exploiting the still-developing brains of children and teens for profit. These features include algorithmically driven, endless-scrolling feeds, intermittent variable rewards (like unpredictable “likes” or comments), appearance-based validation systems, and psychological triggers that mimic the mechanics of slot machines.

Plaintiffs further allege that Meta and other defendants knew — or should have known — that adolescents are uniquely susceptible to compulsive use of their products. The science is not ambiguous. As detailed in the litigation, the prefrontal cortex of the adolescent brain, which is responsible for impulse control and executive function, is not yet fully developed. Teenagers are more sensitive to dopamine-driven feedback loops. They are more likely to engage in social comparison. They are significantly more vulnerable to the harms caused by social rejection, appearance-based judgment, and the constant pressure to engage online.

Yet, despite this knowledge, Meta and other companies chose to push forward with designs and features that maximize user engagement, while failing to implement meaningful safeguards or provide adequate warnings to users and their families. The lawsuits assert that these omissions amount to a failure to warn—a central theory of liability in these cases—and constitute actionable negligence under product liability law.

The harms alleged are not abstract. Plaintiffs are seeking compensation for very real, severe injuries. These include diagnosed psychological disorders such as anxiety, depression, and body dysmorphia; disordered eating, including anorexia and bulimia; compulsive self-harm and self-mutilation; and, in some of the most tragic cases, suicide or attempted suicide. Emergency room visits among youth for anxiety disorders have increased by more than 100 percent over the past decade. Suicide rates among individuals aged 10 to 24 are up 57 percent. Internal research conducted by Meta, referenced throughout the complaint, confirms that the company was well aware of the links between its products and these mental health outcomes.

These lawsuits do not rest solely on external studies or expert opinion. They draw extensively on internal documents — including whistleblower disclosures — showing that Meta understood the addictive nature of its products and the particular danger they posed to teens.  Yet rather than redesign their platforms to reduce harm, the company continued to prioritize engagement metrics and revenue over safety.

The legal framework for these claims is straightforward. Plaintiffs are pursuing causes of action based on:

• Strict liability for design defect — asserting that the platforms are unreasonably dangerous in their current form;

• Failure to warn — claiming that Meta and others failed to adequately disclose the risks associated with excessive use by minors;

• Negligent design and oversight — based on the companies’ decisions to build, maintain, and promote features that foreseeably harm young users;

• And in some tragic cases, wrongful death and survival actions on behalf of families who have lost their children.

This litigation is not a policy debate about screen time.  Many people roll their eyes at these lawsuits, thinking it is just that, and parents should watch their kids.  But it is something different.  It is a product liability action grounded in the same legal principles that apply to defective pharmaceuticals, dangerous consumer products, and other technologies that cause harm when misused as intended. The allegation is not simply that teens overuse social media — it is that they are overusing it because it was designed to be that way, and because the companies behind these platforms knowingly failed to act.

Meta, Snap, TikTok, and YouTube are not being sued for hosting content. They are being sued for designing products that systematically exploit neurodevelopmental vulnerabilities for profit, while ignoring — or actively concealing — the health consequences that result.

These lawsuits are not just about recovering damages. They are about accountability. They are about demanding that billion-dollar companies take responsibility for products they designed, promoted, and monetized — at the direct expense of children’s health and well-being.

Social Media Addiction Class Action

The social media addiction lawsuits have been getting filed across the country for the last several years. At the start of 2022, however, the litigation really started to gain momentum. This was partly due to the fact that a lot of plaintiffs lawyers began taking these cases more seriously.

The social media addiction lawsuits pending in federal courts across the country were consolidated into a new “class action” MDL (Multi-District Litigation) in August 2022. When the MDL was created, it only included 28 social media addiction lawsuits. Today, however, there are over 900 social media addiction lawsuits consolidated in the MDL.

Right now, the social media addiction lawsuits are going through a phase of consolidated discovery. Discovery is the part of a civil case in which the parties get to gather facts and evidence through depositions and written questions.

When the discovery phase is over, a handful of sample cases will be selected for bellwether test trials. The outcome of these jury trials is supposed to help facilitate settlement of the remaining cases. In reality, there is usually a settlement before we get to any test trials.

Injuries in Social Media Addiction Lawsuits

Social media platforms are intentionally designed to maximize engagement, often leading to compulsive use or addiction. Algorithms encourage prolonged screen time, which can result in neglect of daily responsibilities, academic performance, and social interactions. This can lead directly to a number of mental and physical injuries. The most common injuries related to social media addiction are listed below.

Eating Disorders

• Anorexia: Exposure to content promoting unrealistic beauty standards can contribute to anorexia, where individuals develop an intense fear of gaining weight and severely restrict food intake.
• Bulimia: Social media can reinforce body image issues, leading to cycles of binge eating followed by purging behaviors.
• Binge Eating: Emotional distress triggered by social media content can lead to compulsive overeating, often as a coping mechanism.
• Other Eating Disorders: Exposure to diet culture, body shaming, and harmful weight-loss trends online can contribute to various disordered eating behaviors.

Mental Health Disorders

• Depression: Constant social comparison, cyberbullying, and exposure to distressing content can lead to persistent sadness, hopelessness, and depressive symptoms.
• Anxiety: The fear of missing out (FOMO), social comparison, and harmful interactions online can heighten anxiety levels, particularly in adolescents.

Self-Harm & Suicide

• Suicidality: Exposure to self-harm content or online communities discussing suicide can increase suicidal thoughts, especially in vulnerable teens. This, along with child sex abuse cases, represents the most severe injuries in these lawsuits.
• Attempted Suicide: Some social media content can normalize or even glorify self-harm and suicide, influencing vulnerable users to attempt self-harm.
• Death by Suicide: Tragically, social media can play a role in some individuals’ decisions to take their own lives, particularly when cyberbullying or exposure to suicidal content is involved.
• Other Self-Harm: Many users engage in various forms of self-injury as a response to distressing social media interactions or online pressure.

Child Sexual Abuse & Exploitation

• Online Predators: Social media platforms provide opportunities for predators to groom and exploit minors.
• CSAM Violations (Child Sexual Abuse Material): Some platforms have facilitated the distribution and access to illegal child sexual abuse content, contributing to severe harm.

Other Physical Injuries

• Accidents Due to Distraction: While not a primary focus of these lawsuits, injuries resulting from distraction-related accidents—such as those caused by using social media while walking or driving—highlight another indirect risk associated with excessive platform use.

These lawsuits aim to hold social media companies accountable for the significant and lasting harm their platforms have caused, particularly among vulnerable adolescent users.

Will There Be Social Media Addiction Settlements?

The lawsuits seeking to hold social media companies accountable for the harm caused by addiction are unique and, in many ways, unprecedented. To date, none of these cases have proceeded to trial or reached a settlement. Given the relatively novel legal claims involved, plaintiffs face significant challenges in proving their case.

One of the biggest hurdles in these lawsuits is establishing causation. Plaintiffs must first demonstrate, through scientific evidence, that social media addiction constitutes a legitimate physical addiction. While research has been conducted on this topic, it remains uncertain whether the findings will withstand the rigorous academic and legal scrutiny required for admissibility in court.

Even if plaintiffs successfully prove the existence of a social media addiction, they must also establish that this addiction was “more likely than not” the direct cause of the teen’s harm. In cases involving suicide or severe self-harm, this could be particularly difficult, as social media addiction is likely to be just one of multiple contributing factors.

Settlement Payouts in Social Media Addiction Lawsuits

Estimating the potential settlement payouts in social media addiction lawsuits is very premature at this point. These are new and unique cases, and no social media addiction case has ever been tried before a jury. If we make various assumptions about how these cases will unfold, we can provide estimates of their settlement value based on settlements in similar prior cases.

The social media addiction lawsuits are likely to be resolved in a global settlement deal, in which individual cases are ranked into tiers that determine the amount of compensation each receives. Cases in the highest settlement tier will get the most compensation. What tier a case ranks in will largely be based on the severity of the plaintiff’s injuries.

Tier 1 Settlements: $500,000 – $2 million

Cases in the top or highest value settlement tier will typically involve the most serious types of injuries. In social media addiction cases, the most serious injury is death as a result of suicide related to social media addiction. These cases will only account for a small percentage of overall claims, but they could have a very high potential settlement value.

Tier 2 Settlements: $180,000 – $400,000

In cases involving severe but non-fatal injuries—such as self-harm, eating disorders, or long-term mental health struggles—settlements are expected to be lower than those in wrongful death cases but could still be significant. If these lawsuits progress favorably for plaintiffs, settlement amounts may range from $180,000 to $400,000, depending on the severity and duration of the harm suffered.

Tier 3 Settlements: $20,000 to $160,000

In cases involving milder injuries, such as temporary mental health struggles or emotional distress, settlement amounts are expected to be lower. However, if plaintiffs’ attorneys successfully establish a link between social media use and these issues, settlements could range from $20,000 to $160,000, particularly when no ongoing treatment is necessary.

Contact Us About Social Media Addiction Lawsuits

If you think you have a potential social media addiction injury lawsuit, contact our attorneys today at 800-322-3010 or reach out online for a complimentary consultation.