● Investigating Mass Tort

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Update
Meta, Snap, YouTube & TikTok Settle School District Bellwether Case
All four platforms named in the Social Media Addiction lawsuits — Meta (Instagram and Facebook), Snap, YouTube, and TikTok — have reached confidential settlements with a Kentucky school district just days before trial, according to court filings. The parties had been heading towards a landmark federal trial scheduled to begin June 12, 2026 — a proceeding that was to set the tone for more than 1,200 school district cases and thousands of individual injury claims nationwide. Source: New York Times: Meta Settles a School District’s Social Media Addiction Lawsuit.

Individual plaintiffs’ cases are not covered by this settlement. If you or your child has been harmed by social media addiction, time-sensitive filing deadlines may apply.
Last updated: May 22, 2026

You probably don’t need a lawyer to tell you that scrolling Instagram at 2 a.m. didn’t feel like a choice. If you grew up with a smartphone in your hand — logging hours on TikTok, keeping Snap streaks alive, checking likes before you’d even gotten out of bed — and you found yourself battling anxiety, depression, an eating disorder, or worse, you are not alone. And you may not be to blame.

According to the Plaintiffs’ Second Amended Master Complaint filed December 15, 2023 in In re Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 3047 (N.D. Cal.), the companies behind Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube deliberately engineered their platforms to be addictive — and they knew exactly what they were doing to developing teenage brains.

Carey & Danis LLC is actively investigating claims on behalf of young adults who suffered serious mental health injuries as a result of using these platforms as teenagers. Here is what you need to know.

What These Companies Are Accused of Doing

The lawsuit alleges that Meta (Instagram and Facebook), ByteDance (TikTok), Snap (Snapchat), and Google (YouTube) didn’t accidentally create addictive products. They built addiction in on purpose.

The complaint describes how each company studied the psychology and neuroscience of adolescent brains — specifically the fact that teenagers’ prefrontal cortexes, the part of the brain responsible for impulse control and decision-making — are not fully developed, and then engineered features to exploit that vulnerability. The goal was to maximize “engagement,” which in plain terms means keeping you on the app as long as possible so the company could sell more advertising.

The specific design features alleged to be defective and dangerous include:

  • Algorithmic feeds designed to never end — An infinite scroll of content engineered to keep you in a dopamine-induced “flow state,” making it feel impossible to stop.
  • Intermittent variable rewards (IVR) — The same psychological trick used by slot machines. Likes, comments, and notifications were deliberately timed and withheld so that you never knew when the next reward was coming, making the craving more intense. The complaint alleges that Instagram, for instance, would sometimes hold back notifications and release them all at once to maximize your emotional response.
  • Reciprocity exploitation — Features like Snapchat’s read receipts and Instagram’s “Seen” indicators were designed to make you feel socially obligated to respond immediately, trapping you in an endless loop of interaction.
  • Social comparison mechanics — Likes, follower counts, Snap Streaks, and view tallies were all designed to trigger status anxiety and constant upward social comparison — comparing yourself to people you perceived as more popular, more attractive, or more successful.
  • Appearance-altering filters — Filters and lenses built into these platforms imposed unrealistic beauty standards, reinforcing body image issues.
  • Ineffective or illusory age verification — None of the defendants conducted meaningful age verification, allowing underage users easy access to these addictive products despite knowing the harm they caused.

The complaint further alleges that the defendants concealed what their own internal research showed: that their products were causing serious psychological harm to teenagers. While publicly dismissing concerns, they were internally studying — and in some cases suppressing — evidence of the damage their platforms were doing.

⚠ This Isn’t About Willpower — It Was About Brain Chemistry

The U.S. Surgeon General has publicly stated that children versus Big Tech is “just not a fair fight.” Platform designers used world-class expertise in behavioral psychology and neuroscience to override your ability to self-regulate. These are not character flaws. These are the predictable results of a deliberate design strategy.

Not sure if you qualify?

The attorneys at Carey & Danis LLC offer a free, no-obligation case evaluation. We review your situation, answer your questions, and let you know honestly whether you may have a viable claim. There is no cost and no commitment. Get your free case review now.

The Real-World Harm Alleged

The complaint describes a devastating pattern of harm connected to compulsive use of these platforms. The statistics cited in the litigation are striking:

  • Youth suicide rates increased by 57% during the period when social media use exploded.
  • Emergency room visits for anxiety disorders among young people rose 117%.
  • In the decade leading up to 2020, the share of high school students reporting persistent sadness and hopelessness increased by 40%.
  • In 2019, one in five high school girls had made a suicide plan. By 2021, that figure had grown: one in three girls seriously considered attempting suicide.
  • By 2018, suicide had become the second leading cause of death among youth in the United States, according to CDC data cited in the complaint.

For individual plaintiffs, the alleged harms include anxiety, depression, eating disorders, self-harm, suicidality, and in some cases wrongful death. These are not minor inconveniences. They are life-altering injuries — the kind that affect your ability to work, maintain relationships, and move through the world.

Key Allegation: The complaint charges that these companies knew their products were causing a youth mental health crisis and chose profit over the safety of millions of children and teenagers.

Who May Be Affected — And Who May Have a Claim

If you used Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, or YouTube during your teenage years and suffered serious mental or physical health consequences, you may be eligible to participate in this litigation, even if you’ve subsequently worked through it. Based on the allegations in the master complaint, potential claimants include:

  • Current young adults (roughly ages 18–28) who used one or more of these platforms as minors
  • Users who developed anxiety, depression, or other mood disorders connected to their social media use
  • Users who developed an eating disorder, body dysmorphia, or self-image issues connected to social media use
  • Users who engaged in self-harm or developed suicidal ideation connected to their platform use
  • Parents or guardians of minor children who experienced any of the above
  • Families who lost a child to suicide or other causes connected to social media harm

You do not have to have been diagnosed with a clinical disorder to explore whether you have a claim. If you believe your time on these platforms during your teen years contributed to real suffering — and that suffering affected your life — the right next step is a free, confidential conversation with our legal team.

⚠ Time-Sensitive: Deadlines Apply

Statutes of limitations vary by state and case type. Your window to file a claim is limited and may be shorter than you think — especially if you have recently turned 18. If you believe you have a claim, do not wait. Contact Carey & Danis LLC today for a free, no-obligation case evaluation. There is no fee unless we win.

What You May Be Entitled To Recover

The plaintiffs in this litigation are seeking compensation for the full range of harm caused by defendants’ defective and dangerous products. While no specific settlement amounts have been announced and every case is different, compensation in cases like this can include:

  • Medical and mental health treatment costs (past and future)
  • Pain and suffering resulting from depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and self-harm
  • Loss of enjoyment of life during a critical period of development
  • Lost educational and economic opportunities
  • Emotional distress damages
  • In wrongful death cases, additional damages available to surviving family members

We want to be straightforward with you: litigation like this takes time, and outcomes are never guaranteed. What we can tell you is that the legal theories in this case are grounded in well-established products liability and negligence law, and that the evidence uncovered so far — including the companies’ own internal research — is substantial. And the results in court to date have validated the idea that these cases have merit.

Frequently Asked Questions

I’m in college now, but I used these apps as a teenager. Is it too late to file a claim?

It depends on your state and the specifics of your situation, but it is not necessarily too late. Many states have tolling provisions that pause the statute of limitations for minors until they reach adulthood. If you recently turned 18, your window to file may actually be opening right now — but it won’t stay open forever. Contact us immediately for a free evaluation so we can tell you exactly where you stand.

How do I know if my mental health struggles are connected to social media?

You don’t have to prove the connection on your own — that’s what the lawyers are for. What matters right now is whether your symptoms began or worsened during a period of heavy social media use as a teenager, and whether those symptoms involved depression, anxiety, eating disorders, self-harm, or suicidal thoughts. Our team will help assess whether your experience matches the patterns documented in this litigation.

Which apps are included in the lawsuit?

The master complaint names Instagram, Facebook (both owned by Meta Platforms, Inc.), TikTok (owned by ByteDance), Snapchat (owned by Snap Inc.), and YouTube (owned by Google LLC). If you used any of these apps as a minor and experienced serious mental health harm, your use may be relevant to a potential claim.

What exactly did these companies do wrong, legally speaking?

The lawsuit asserts multiple legal theories, including strict product liability for defective design, failure to warn users about known dangers, negligence, fraudulent concealment of known harms, and violations of consumer protection laws. At the core, the claim is that these companies sold a defective product — their apps — that they knew was dangerous for young users and that they designed without adequate safeguards despite that knowledge.

Do I need medical records or a diagnosis to participate?

Having medical or mental health records that document your condition is helpful, but you do not need to have a formal diagnosis before reaching out to us. We will walk you through the process of gathering the documentation that supports your claim, including helping you understand what records may exist and how to obtain them. The first step is simply contacting us for a free consultation.

Is this a class action, and will I actually get any money?

This is a mass tort litigation — specifically, a Multi-District Litigation (MDL) — rather than a traditional class action. That means each plaintiff’s case is evaluated individually based on their specific injuries, so your recovery (if any) is based on what happened to you personally rather than being divided equally among a large group. We cannot promise any specific outcome, but cases involving serious, documented harm and strong evidence of corporate wrongdoing can result in significant compensation.

What does it cost to hire a lawyer for this case?

Nothing upfront, and nothing out of pocket. Carey & Danis LLC handles these cases on a contingency fee basis, which means we only get paid if we win your case. Your initial consultation is completely free and confidential. There is no risk to you in finding out whether you have a claim.

Why Carey & Danis LLC

Carey & Danis LLC has spent decades fighting for people harmed by corporations that put profits over safety. We have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for clients across the country in mass tort and class action cases. We know how to take on well-funded corporate defendants, and we know how to treat clients with the respect and transparency they deserve. When you call us, you talk to a real attorney — not a call center — and we will be straight with you about your options from day one.

Source: Plaintiffs’ Second Amended Master Complaint (Personal Injury), In re Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation, No. 4:22-MD-3047, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (Doc. 494, filed Dec. 15, 2023). Search publicly available case materials at the MDL Centrality site for this litigation. This post is based on publicly available court filings. Carey Danis & Lowe has not independently verified all facts alleged in the complaint.