Social Media Addiction Lawsuits: What You Need to Know

It goes without saying that social media has become a ubiquitous part of society in the past decade or so, with increasing popularity among the youth. But as more and more children use social media, the addictive nature of the platforms has become apparent. Now considered a mental health crisis, families have begun to file lawsuits against the major tech giants for their business practices concerning children. There has also been a push for legislation that would curtail some of these practices that cause addiction, depression, and anxiety.

What is Social Media Addiction?

A relatively new term, social media addiction is defined as a compulsion to use social media in excess, which can lead to disturbances in mood, cognition, physical and emotional reactions, and interpersonal and psychological problems. Many studies have found that prolonged use of social media, such as Meta’s platforms, Facebook, and Instagram, can lead to mental health issues, such as stress, anxiety, and depression, and are negatively associated with long-term well-being. One 2013 study estimated that social media addiction affects approximately 12% of users – a number likely to have increased over the past decade.

Social media addiction in young adults is also correlated to self-esteem. Because social media shows “selective and glorified online self-presentations” of others, it tends to reduce the viewer’s self-esteem by causing them to compare themselves to these idealized images. In turn, the users may experience depression and anxiety which can lead to poor academic performance, eating disorders, and suicidal ideation as well.

Social Media Addiction Lawsuits

Currently, there are approximately 584 pending lawsuits against the major social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Youtube, and Roblox, that are consolidated into a multidistrict litigation in the federal court of the Northern District of California (In re Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation). That number is expected to increase into the thousands as more individual suits are consolidated. About 70% of the cases are filed against Meta (parent company of Facebook and Instagram). In addition, attorneys general of more than 40 states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit against Meta Platforms Inc., alleging the platforms mislead and exploit children.

The legal basis for such suits is mostly based on strict liability and negligence theories of failure to warn and design defects under state law. Most plaintiffs are adolescents and their parents who allege that the minors suffered physical, mental, and emotional harm from the addictive nature of the defendant's platforms. One of the ways that companies make their platforms addictive is by utilizing “addictive feeds,” algorithmically-generated feeds that provide content to the user that is similar to their interests and in turn, keeps them engaged and viewing longer. As the master complaint describes, although the platforms differ, they all exploit children and adolescents by using such methods as endless feeds to keep users scrolling in an induced “flow state;” “intermittent variable rewards” that deliver dopamine; “trophies” for extreme usage; metrics to exploit social comparison; incessant notifications to encourage repetitive account checking; inadequate age verification protocols; and deficient parental controls.

The complaint alleges that these conscious, intentional design choices have caused myriad issues among children – suicide rates have increased by 57% and suicide attempts by 36%; emergency room visits for anxiety increased by 117%, and 40% of high school students have reported sadness and hopelessness. According to the complaint, the defendant companies were well aware of the addictive qualities of their products and purposely pursued these strategies to increase their profits.

Potential Defenses

So far, the defendant companies have somewhat successfully raised a defense under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which grants immunity to providers of interactive computer services from any liability for publishing content created by third parties. Judge Yvonne Gonzales Rogers, who is handling the MDL, ruled that several of the plaintiffs' design defect claims were barred by Section 230 and apply to features such as endless content, ephemeral content distribution, and the timing and clustering of third-party content. However, certain design defect claims survived the defendant’s motion to dismiss on Section 230 grounds, such as content that related to the defendant’s own conduct or content that did not involve any process related to publishing.

The defendants have also raised First Amendment, freedom of speech concerns, which the court found to be protected as to how the defendants’ timed and clustered notifications of their content. The MDL court did not find, however, that the First Amendment applied to the defendants’ failure to provide effective parental controls, notifications, and screen time limitations.

Litigation Strategies

If the defendants’ motion to dismiss is any indicator, it is likely that the litigation will revolve around the question of whether social media platforms are “products” that are subject to products liability law. In deciding the motion, the court focused on whether each functionality offered a product, similar to personal property, or an idea or expression. As more claims arise, it is likely the defendants will continue to raise the argument that any alleged design defect is not that of a product, but rather, protected speech. 

If plaintiffs are able to successfully prove that the defendants provide products, and as such, have a duty of care to their consumers to provide such products safely, then there is the question of whether the plaintiffs can adequately prove that any breach of duty caused the plaintiffs’ injuries. As addiction has medical, psychological, and mental components, it is unavoidable that experts in these fields will be needed to prove the existence of addiction and how it has led to harming the youth. 

Recent Legislation

As the lawsuits continue to develop, so have legislative efforts that aim to regulate social media platforms and protect minors from addiction. Recently, a bipartisan coalition of 42 attorney generals has banded together to ask Congress to introduce warning labels on social media sites, an initiative supported by the U.S. Surgeon General. This year, the state of New York passed the Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act, which prohibits platforms from providing addictive feeds to minors without parental consent. The bill would also require parental consent to permit notifications to minors between the hours of 12:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m.

As of now, none of these lawsuits have settled or gone to trial. The first bellwether trial is scheduled for next October, which can provide guidance on cases to come. Overall, as the legal and ethical consequences of social media addiction continue to unfold, it is important for legal professionals to stay up-to-date on these issues.