Does Snapchat cause depression, anxiety, eating disorders? A court trial that tells bold story against social media platforms

Snapchat parent Snap Inc has reached a settlement during a trial over claims brought by two teenagers who say the company designed the platform to be addictive, causing their depression, anxiety and eating disorders, attorneys for the plaintiffs said on Monday.

Plaintiffs S.J., a 16-year-old girl from Illinois, and K.D.B., an 18-year-old from Mississippi, say they began using YouTube as early as age 3 and the other platforms around age 9, developing compulsive habits they blame on features such as autoplay and infinite scroll. The companies have rejected claims their platforms were designed to addict young people, and say they have taken action to make the apps safe places for young people to express themselves, as per Reuters report.

Snap, the maker of Snapchat, said in a statement that it was "pleased to have been able to resolve this matter in an amicable manner." Meta confirmed a settlement with KDB on Friday, after previously settling with SJ, which left Snap as the sole defendant in the case which consolidated claims from two lawsuits. TikTok and YouTube were also named as defendants in the case, but both had already reached settlements as well.


Tough Question Before Social Media Companies

Social media companies face thousands of lawsuits in federal and state courts brought by individuals, school districts, municipalities and other government entities alleging the companies knowingly sought to addict children to their platforms, contributing to a youth mental health crisis involving anxiety, depression and suicide.

In August, Meta struck settlements worth up to $18 billion with nearly every state and US territory to resolve lawsuits brought by attorneys general over claims its platforms harmed teens and agreed to make changes to how Instagram and Facebook work for teens. The deal conditioned $5 billion of the payout on the states reaching similar settlements with Snap, TikTok and YouTube.

Meta has faced other trials, though. Earlier this month, a New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion in a case where the company was found liable for deceiving users in the state about how their data was used in a case related to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, AFP reported.

A New Mexico jury also found the social media giant liable for harms to children, leading to a combined penalty of $942 million earlier this year.