Teen plaintiff suing Meta over mental health harms drops his claims against company days before trial

A Florida teen whose lawsuit claimed Meta's platforms were to blame for his depression and anxiety dropped ‌his case ⁠against ⁠the company just days before the trial in Los Angeles was set to start, his attorneys said on Wednesday.

The lawsuit, brought by a ⁠15-year-old boy ‌known as R.K.C., originally named four defendants, ⁠Google's YouTube, Meta's Instagram, Snap Inc's Snapchat and ByteDance's TikTok, but YouTube and TikTok settled in June.

Bloomberg reported on Monday that Snap had reached a tentative settlement ‌in the case.


R.K.C., who started using social media when he ⁠was about 8, said he became addicted to it, losing sleep and suffering from depression and anxiety, according to court filings.

(Reporting by Diana Novak Jones; Editing by Chris Reese and Alexia Garamfalvi)