Thousands of young people, parents and school districts are suing Meta, TikTok, Snap and Google, alleging that Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube were designed to keep minors using them compulsively, and that the companies knew the risks and did not warn families. The individual cases seek compensation for eating disorders, depression, anxiety, self-harm and other injuries. They are moving forward in two coordinated proceedings, one in federal court and one in California state court, and the first jury verdict came in March 2026.
Last updated October 20, 2026.
At a Glance
- Defendants: Meta Platforms (Instagram and Facebook), TikTok and ByteDance, Snap Inc. (Snapchat), and Google (YouTube).
- Federal court: In re: Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 3047, before Chief Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in the Northern District of California.
- California state court: Social Media Cases, JCCP No. 5255, before Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
- Cases pending: 3,824 in the federal MDL as of October 1, 2026, and more than 3,000 in the California proceeding.
- Verdicts: one individual verdict so far, $6 million against Meta and YouTube in March 2026, now on appeal.
- Next trials: a consolidated Los Angeles trial against Meta and Snap begins October 28, 2026. The first federal school district trial is set for February 2027.
Is This a Class Action?
No, although many people search for a social media addiction class action. These cases are a mass tort. Each injured person files an individual claim, and the claims are grouped before one judge for discovery, rulings that apply to everyone, and test trials known as bellwethers. Any compensation is based on each person’s own injuries rather than split evenly among a class. That also means there is no class settlement to wait for and no claim form that arrives in the mail.
Who May Have a Claim
The claims being filed commonly share a few features:
- Heavy use of Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat or YouTube that began in childhood or the teenage years.
- A diagnosed mental health or physical condition linked to that use, such as an eating disorder, depression, anxiety, self-harm or suicidal thoughts.
- Treatment for the condition, such as therapy, medication, hospitalization or an inpatient or outpatient program.
Many people bringing claims are now in their late teens or twenties, because the harm alleged usually began years earlier. Adults can file on their own. Parents can file on behalf of a minor child, and families who lost a young person bring wrongful death claims.
Injuries in the Lawsuits
The standard short-form complaint used in the federal MDL lists the injury categories plaintiffs can claim: addiction or compulsive use; eating disorders, including anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder; depression; anxiety; self-harm, including suicidal ideation, suicide attempts and death by suicide; and other physical injuries. Sleep loss is commonly alleged alongside these conditions. Separate claims involve sexual exploitation of minors that plaintiffs say the platforms’ features made possible.
What the Lawsuits Allege
The lawsuits target how the platforms were built rather than what other users posted. Plaintiffs allege that features such as infinite scroll, autoplay, algorithmic recommendation feeds, likes and other social metrics, appearance-altering filters and constant push notifications were designed to maximize the time young people spend on the apps. They also allege that the companies failed to verify users’ ages, offered weak parental controls, made accounts hard to delete, and did not warn parents or teens about risks their own internal research had identified.
That design focus matters legally. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act has long protected platforms from lawsuits over content posted by users. Judges in both proceedings have allowed many design-based claims to go forward while holding that Section 230 bars or limits claims tied to other users’ content. On August 10, 2026, the Ninth Circuit dismissed Meta’s and TikTok’s interlocutory appeals from rulings in the federal MDL, holding that Section 230 provides a defense to liability rather than immunity from suit. The court did not decide whether the challenged claims ultimately survive Section 230.
Trials and Settlements So Far
Bellwether trials test how juries respond to the evidence. So far, most of the companies have settled before each trial date, usually on confidential terms. The table tracks every individual and school district bellwether that has reached a trial setting.
| Case | Meta | TikTok | Snap | YouTube |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| K.G.M. Los Angeles, trial Jan. to Mar. 2026 | Verdict: liable, $4.2M | Settled before trial | Settled before trial | Verdict: liable, $1.8M |
| Breathitt County Schools Federal MDL, set for June 2026 | Settled, $9M | Settled, $8M | Settled, $8M | Settled, about $2M |
| R.K.C. Los Angeles, set for July 2026 | Dismissed, no payment | Settled before trial | Settled before trial | Settled before trial |
| P.M.Y. Los Angeles, set for Oct. 2026 | Dismissed | Settled | Dismissed | Dismissed |
| S.J. and K.D.B. Los Angeles, trial Oct. 28, 2026 | Going to trial | Settled | Going to trial | Settled |
In the K.G.M. trial, the jury found Meta and YouTube negligent and awarded $3 million in compensatory damages, assigning 70 percent of the fault to Meta and 30 percent to YouTube, plus $3 million in punitive damages. Judge Kuhl denied the companies’ motions for a new trial on June 9, 2026, and both have appealed. Neither TikTok nor Snap has yet faced a jury in these cases. For the next trial, Judge Kuhl ordered Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram head Adam Mosseri to testify. LegalScoops covered that ruling in Zuckerberg Ordered Back to the Stand in Social Media Addiction Trial.
A verdict shows how one jury valued one person’s case. It does not set a value for anyone else’s claim, and no global settlement of the individual claims exists.
Lawsuits by Company
Each platform faces its own set of allegations and has its own record in court.
- Meta and Instagram: the only company to lose at trial in both an individual case (K.G.M.) and a state case (New Mexico), and the company that settled the multistate attorney general case for up to $17.1 billion.
- TikTok: has settled every individual and school district case before a jury could hear it, and faces separate suits from more than a dozen states.
- Snapchat: settled K.G.M., R.K.C. and the Breathitt County school district case; P.M.Y. dismissed her claims against Snap. Snap remains a defendant in the October 2026 trial.
- YouTube: went to verdict in the first trial and has since settled or been dismissed from every case set for trial.
State Attorney General Cases
Separate from the injury claims, state attorneys general have sued the companies under consumer protection laws. On August 26, 2026, Meta settled the multistate case being tried in federal court in Oakland for at least $12.1 billion over ten years, and up to $17.1 billion if other major platforms adopt comparable terms, along with required changes for teen users. Texas announced a separate settlement with Meta the same day. New Mexico, which sued on its own, won a jury verdict and a court-ordered abatement fund against Meta totaling about $942 million. TikTok settled with Alabama in September 2026 for at least $100 million, and Arizona sued TikTok on October 8, 2026.
These settlements pay the states. They do not create a fund for families or a claims process for individuals, and they do not resolve anyone’s personal injury claim. LegalScoops explains the difference in Meta’s $17 Billion Settlement Has No Claim Form for Families.
Compensation in Social Media Addiction Claims
A successful claim seeks compensation for the harm a young person suffered. That includes medical expenses, past and future, such as therapy, psychiatric care, medication, hospitalization and residential or outpatient treatment programs. It also includes non-economic damages: pain and suffering, emotional distress and loss of enjoyment of life. In wrongful death cases, families seek compensation for their own losses. Punitive damages, meant to punish a company’s conduct, were awarded in the first trial.
What a claim may be worth depends on the diagnosis, how severe and long-lasting it was, the treatment records, the age when use began, and which platforms were involved. No settlement values have been published for individual claims.
Deadlines to File
Every state has a statute of limitations that limits how long a person has to file an injury claim. The rules vary by state and are often different for injuries that began while the person was a minor. Depending on state law, the deadline may depend on when the person knew or reasonably should have known of the injury and its potential cause. A formal diagnosis is not necessarily required to start the limitations period. Because a deadline can pass without notice, it is best to check rather than assume.
Recent Developments
- October 8, 2026: Arizona’s attorney general sued TikTok under the state Consumer Fraud Act, alleging addictive design aimed at minors.
- October 7, 2026: Florida, which did not join the multistate settlement, asked a state court for a temporary injunction requiring Meta to verify ages and remove users under 14.
- October 1, 2026: The federal MDL reached 3,824 pending cases, up 616 from a month earlier.
- September 29, 2026: Judge Kuhl denied Meta’s motion to quash trial subpoenas for Zuckerberg and Mosseri in the October 28 trial.
- September 25, 2026: YouTube settled with S.J. and K.D.B., the plaintiffs in the October trial. The same day, TikTok settled with Alabama.
- August 26, 2026: Meta settled the multistate attorney general case for up to $17.1 billion.
- August 21, 2026: TikTok agreed to pay $400 million to resolve the federal children’s privacy lawsuit brought by the Justice Department.
- August 10, 2026: The Ninth Circuit dismissed Meta’s and TikTok’s Section 230 appeals from the federal MDL as premature.
Doyle APC handles social media addiction lawsuits nationwide together with experienced co-counsel.
Common Questions
Is there a social media addiction class action?
No. The social media addiction lawsuits are a mass tort. Each person files an individual claim, and the claims are coordinated in federal MDL No. 3047 and California JCCP No. 5255 for pretrial proceedings and bellwether trials.
Who qualifies for a social media addiction lawsuit?
Claims commonly involve heavy use of Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat or YouTube beginning in childhood or the teenage years, followed by a diagnosed and treated condition such as an eating disorder, depression, anxiety, self-harm or suicidal thoughts. Families who lost a young person also bring claims.
Can an adult file a social media addiction claim?
Yes. Many people filing claims are now in their late teens or twenties. If the harm began when they were minors, they can usually pursue a claim on their own.
Has anyone won a social media addiction lawsuit?
Yes. In March 2026, a Los Angeles jury found Meta and YouTube liable to a young woman identified as K.G.M. and awarded $6 million, including $3 million in punitive damages. The companies have appealed.
Has there been a social media addiction settlement for individuals?
Several individual plaintiffs have settled with TikTok, Snap and YouTube before trial, on confidential terms. There is no global settlement and no claims fund for individuals. The multistate settlement with Meta pays the states, not families.
Which companies are being sued?
Meta Platforms (Instagram and Facebook), TikTok and its parent ByteDance, Snap Inc. (Snapchat), and Google (YouTube).
How long do I have to file a claim?
It depends on the state. Statutes of limitations vary and often have special rules for injuries that began while the person was a minor, so it is best to check before assuming a deadline has or has not passed.
See If You Qualify for Social Media Addiction Compensation
Doyle APC handles social media addiction claims nationwide together with experienced co-counsel, for young people and families harmed by Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat or YouTube. Many people with claims are now adults who can file on their own. There are no fees or costs unless there is a recovery.
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