Google’s YouTube settles social media addiction lawsuit brought by Florida teenager
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier joins ‘Varney & Co.’ to discuss a federal lawsuit against TikTok, alleging that the platform violated Florida’s child communications law and placed children at risk.
Google’s YouTube has settled a social media addiction lawsuit brought by a 15-year-old in Florida who accused the platform of causing psychological harm to children, according to the plaintiff’s lawyers.
The terms of the settlement reached in federal court against the social media giant are confidential, lawyers said Tuesday.
“YouTube’s decision to settle this case before it faces a judge speaks for itself. We will continue to fight for all those affected by social media addiction to convict these companies and force them to prioritize the safety of their young users above their core values,” the plaintiff’s lawyers said in a statement, according to Reuters.
“We will continue to fight for all those affected by social media to bring these companies to justice and force them to prioritize the safety of their young users above their own goals.”
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Google’s YouTube has settled a social media addiction lawsuit brought by a 15-year-old in Florida. (Anna Barclay/Getty Images, File / Getty Images)
Google spokesman José Castañeda said in a statement to FOX Business that the lawsuit was settled amicably and that the company’s focus “remains on creating age-appropriate products and parental controls that deliver on that promise.”
“For more than a decade, we’ve built YouTube with a sense of responsibility – working with families to give young people the safest, most helpful online experience,” said Castañeda.
The teenager, who used the initials RKC in court papers, argued that YouTube and other social media companies designed their platforms to be addictive.
He said he started using social media when he was about 8 years old and it is said that he became addicted, lost sleep and suffered from depression and anxiety.
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The teenager argued that YouTube and other social media companies designed their platforms to be addictive. (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images, File/Getty Images)
RKC also sued Meta, TikTok and Snapchat in a lawsuit that will begin next month in Los Angeles.
More than 3,300 lawsuits involving drug addiction claims against social media companies are pending in California state court, and another 2,600 lawsuits brought by individuals, school districts, municipalities and counties are pending in California state court.
| A ticker | Security | Finally | Change | change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GOOG | Company ALPHABET INC. | 346.08 | -2.70 |
-0.77% |
| META | META PLATFORMS INC. | 562.20 | -1.65 |
-0.29% |
The first case ended in March after a woman said she became addicted to YouTube and Instagram at a young age because of their attention-grabbing design. He accused companies of deliberately making their platforms addictive to child users.
The judge in that case found the companies negligent, ordered Meta to pay $4.2 million in damages and Google to pay $1.8 million. Earlier this month, a judge dismissed the companies’ attempts to overturn the decision.
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The complainant said he started using social media at the age of eight and became addicted. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images, File / Getty Images)
The woman had also sued TikTok and Snapchat, but both platforms settled before the lawsuit for an undisclosed sum.
A judge in New Mexico also ordered Meta earlier this year to pay $375 million for misleading users about the safety of its children’s platforms.
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Google, Meta, Snapchat and TikTok also settled a lawsuit last month in which a Kentucky school district accused the platforms of causing mental health problems for its students.
The platforms paid a collective $27 million to settle that case.
Meta will face trial again in a lawsuit filed by Tennessee next month. In August, a federal court hearing will be held on the multi-state joint claims against the social media giant.
Reuters contributed to this report.
