Snap settled with two teens who said its design fed depression and eating disorders, so a trial that would have put its CEO on the stand will not happen.
Snap, the company behind Snapchat, has settled a lawsuit from two teenagers who said it built its platform to be addictive. They said that worsened their depression, anxiety and eating disorders. Reuters first reported the news. The settlement means the trial will not go ahead.
The teens said they started on YouTube as young as age 3 and moved to other social media around age 9. They said they developed compulsive habits and pointed to features like autoplay, which starts the next video on its own, and infinite scrolling, which never runs out of posts.
They had already settled with Meta, TikTok and YouTube. The Snap trial was meant to be the company's first in a broader wave of cases about social media and young users. Snap had already settled its other cases set for trial. CEO Evan Spiegel was expected to testify.
A Snap spokesperson said the parties were pleased to resolve the matter amicably. The company said it has built safeguards, launched safety tutorials and worked with experts.
The reporting available does not give the terms of the settlement. Social media companies still face thousands of lawsuits in federal and state courts. Those suits claim the platforms knowingly hooked young users and fed a youth mental health crisis.
For parents, the case is a reason to talk with kids about autoplay and endless scrolling, and to review the safety settings on the apps they use.
If your kids use social media, talk about autoplay and endless scrolling, and check the safety settings together.
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