Meta has settled a lawsuit brought by a second young plaintiff who accused the company of designing Facebook and Instagram to encourage addictive behavior and contribute to mental health problems. The agreement, announced Friday, October 30, leaves Snapchat parent company Snap Inc. as the only remaining defendant in a closely watched Los Angeles trial.
The settlement involves an 18-year-old woman identified in court records as K.D.B. Meta had already settled with a second plaintiff, a 16-year-old girl identified as S.J., before jury selection began Wednesday. The financial terms of both agreements remain confidential.
The case is one of several selected to test allegations that major social media platforms deliberately encourage compulsive use among children and teenagers. Its outcome could influence thousands of similar lawsuits involving individuals, families and school districts across the United States.
Snapchat Remains the Only Defendant
With Meta's departure, the upcoming trial will focus on whether Snapchat's design contributed to the two plaintiffs' alleged mental and physical health injuries. Both originally brought claims against Meta, Snap, TikTok and Google's YouTube, but the other companies have now reached settlements.
The plaintiffs allege that Snapchat encouraged excessive use through features designed to keep young people returning to the application. Their attorneys identified Snapstreaks, Snapscores, push notifications and filters as examples of features they believe promoted compulsive behavior.
Snapstreaks reward users for exchanging messages or images on consecutive days. Snapscores assign numerical values reflecting activity on the platform. The plaintiffs contend that these systems encouraged them to spend excessive amounts of time online.
According to court allegations, their social media use contributed to depression, anxiety, eating disorders and self-harm. Those claims remain disputed and have not been established by a jury in the upcoming Snap trial.
Snap has rejected the accusations and defended its safety practices. The company maintains that it has introduced safeguards, educational resources and tools intended to protect younger users.
Jury selection began October 28 in Los Angeles County Superior Court. Opening statements are expected in early November, with attorneys anticipating that proceedings could continue into mid-December.
The trial will take place before Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl. Because Snap is now the sole defendant, jurors will focus on the company's conduct rather than determining responsibility among several competing social media platforms.
Meta Reaches Agreement Before Trial
The October 30 settlement came shortly after jury selection began. Attorneys for K.D.B. confirmed the agreement but did not disclose how much Meta agreed to pay or whether additional conditions were included.
Emily Jeffcott, an attorney representing K.D.B., said the legal team remained committed to improving children's online safety and holding technology companies accountable.
Meta defended its decision to settle while rejecting suggestions that its platforms were intentionally designed to harm young people.
The company said settlements and dismissals are normal developments in litigation involving selected test cases. It also maintained that it would continue defending itself against other lawsuits.
The agreement does not establish that Meta was legally responsible for the injuries alleged by K.D.B. or S.J. A settlement allows the parties to resolve their dispute without requiring a jury to determine liability.
Meta still faces legal challenges involving claims that Instagram and Facebook contributed to mental health problems among younger users. Other lawsuits may proceed despite the agreements reached with these two plaintiffs.
Separate $18 Billion Settlement Reached in August
The latest development follows a much larger agreement Meta reached with state attorneys general on August 26, 2026. That settlement was valued at approximately $18 billion and involved claims that Facebook and Instagram exposed children to harmful and addictive features.
The multistate agreement resolved litigation brought by nearly all U.S. states and several territories. The states alleged that Meta encouraged excessive use among young people while misleading families about the risks associated with its platforms.
Under the agreement, Meta committed to payments spread over 10 years. A substantial portion is guaranteed, while additional payments depend on other major technology companies adopting comparable protections for younger users.
The settlement also requires significant changes to how Facebook and Instagram operate for users under 18.
Teenagers will be subject to a default combined two-hour daily limit across both platforms, which they cannot disable without parental permission. The agreement also establishes nighttime restrictions between midnight and 6 a.m.
Notifications will generally be muted during school hours, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Exceptions apply to certain direct messages and account security notifications.
Additional provisions address age verification, content recommendations, autoplay, cosmetic filters and prompts encouraging teenagers to reconsider extended periods of scrolling.
Meta denied wrongdoing in reaching the multistate settlement. Its agreement with government officials is separate from the October lawsuit involving K.D.B. and S.J.
Earlier Jury Found Meta and YouTube Negligent
The latest settlements follow a March 25 verdict in another Los Angeles social media addiction case. A jury found Meta and Google's YouTube negligent in connection with platform features that contributed to a young woman's mental health injuries.
The plaintiff, identified as K.G.M. and referred to as Kaley during the trial, alleged that she became dependent on social media as a child. Her attorneys argued that the companies designed their platforms to increase engagement without adequately protecting younger users.
Jurors awarded $6 million in combined compensatory and punitive damages. Meta was assigned $4.2 million of the award, while YouTube was responsible for $1.8 million.
The verdict was significant because it focused on how social media products were designed and operated, rather than simply examining individual posts appearing on the platforms.
Meta and Google disputed the findings. That verdict involved a different plaintiff and should not be confused with the two settlements announced around the October trial.
The lawsuits reflect an increasingly important legal question: whether social media companies can be held responsible when design features allegedly encourage excessive use and contribute to harmful behavior.
Lawyers representing families and young users argue that companies understood the risks but continued using engagement systems that encouraged lengthy sessions. The technology companies dispute those allegations and point to parental controls, safety settings and other protective measures.
The legal disputes also involve questions about how much responsibility can reasonably be attributed to social media use when mental health problems may have multiple contributing factors.
For Snap, those questions will now move to the center of the Los Angeles proceedings. Unlike Meta, TikTok and YouTube, the company has not reached a settlement with the two plaintiffs.
Opening statements are expected in November, with the remaining case likely to test whether Snapchat's features and business practices contributed to the specific injuries alleged by K.D.B. and S.J.