The Lawsuit Information Center of Miller & Zois, LLC This page is about social media addiction lawsuits and who is eligible to bring a claim. The most recent social media class action lawsuit news is also provided by our attorneys. The problem that led to social media lawsuits is millions of people – too many of whom are children – are addicted to social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and others. For these vulnerable users, social media addiction can be very harmful and lead to things like eating disorders, depression, and, in some cases, suicide.
Currently, a flurry of new social media lawsuits have been filed against these businesses, claiming that they knowingly designed the algorithms of their platforms to entice young people into harmful addictions. Our national mass tort lawyers are currently seeking social media addiction lawsuits from individuals who became addicted to social media before age 21 and suffered a severe physical injury as a direct result of that addiction. Physical injuries resulting from social media addiction could include suicide, self-harm, or an eating disorder. This page will provide news and updates on the social media addiction litigation, as well as our estimates on the potential settlement value of these cases.
If your child has suffered severe harm as a result of addiction to social media, call today at 800-553-8082 or contact our lawyers online.
News and Updates for Social Media Lawsuits for 2025
Below are the latest news and updates in the social media MDL and related lawsuits.
March 18, 2025
November will see the first Bellwether trial. The next status conference in the social media addiction MDL will take place on March 21, 2025. The first bellwether test trial date had already been set for November 25, 2025, and Judge Kuhl is expected to hear from both sides on proposed trial dates for the 2nd and 3rd bellwether trials. Of course, none of these trials will be necessary if a global settlement deal is worked out between now and November.
March 7, 2025
Illinois Family Sues Social Media Giants Over Teen’s Mental Health Crisis
In a new lawsuit filed Wednesday, an Illinois parent has sued Meta, TikTok, Snap, and Google, alleging that their social media platforms caused severe harm to their 17-year-old child.
According to the complaint, the teenager developed addiction-like compulsive use of these platforms, leading to severe mental health struggles. The lawsuit states that the child suffered from anorexia, depression, anxiety, and self-harm behaviors, including cutting and attempted suicide.
The family alleges, as all these lawsuits do, that these platforms’ algorithms and engagement-driven designs fostered excessive use, exacerbating the child’s mental health crisis.
March 6, 2025
Ruling Allows Key Claims to Proceed
After this week’s crucial ruling allowing negligence and wrongful death claims against major social media companies to proceed, the social media addiction lawsuits continue to appear to be strong. Defenses based on the First Amendment and Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act were rejected by the judge. Key Rulings:
Wrongful Death Claims: Claims under Indiana, Florida, Virginia, and Wyoming laws were permitted to move forward, as these could be more appropriately addressed within the MDL concerning specific plaintiffs.
Negligence Claims: The court found that public policy supports imposing a duty of care on social media companies to prevent fostering compulsive use and addiction among young users, given the known mental and physical health consequences. “Negligence, as a common-law cause of action, provides a flexible mechanism to redress evolving means for causing harm,” Judge Gonzalez Rogers stated. Claims about Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM): Under Section 230, claims that platforms were used to spread CSAM or let abusers talk to victims were dropped because these claims would require platforms to pre-screen content, which is a traditional publishing activity that is protected by the law. The judge noted, “The only way for defendants to have avoided ‘possession’ of the CSAM material in the first place is to pre-screen content loaded onto its platforms by third parties, which is a traditional publishing activity.”
Loss of Consortium Claims: Claims for loss of parental consortium were dismissed in 24 states and the District of Columbia, as those jurisdictions do not recognize such claims.
Interlocutory Appeals: The judge denied Google and Snap’s requests for interlocutory appeals, deeming them impractical and stating that addressing a single theory of liability while other claims proceed would be inefficient. The court observed that even if the defendant “were right about nuisance [claims], the school districts still have negligence claims” so allowing an immediate appeal would be big of time.
March 5, 2025
200 More New Cases Join MDL
The social media addiction MDL continues to post steady monthly volume of new cases. After adding 250 cases in January, we saw another 212 new cases added to the MDL in February. There are now 1,464 total pending cases.
March 4, 2025
New Instagram Lawsuit Court Opinion
A federal judge ruled that Meta Platforms Inc. is immune from a sex trafficking lawsuit involving its Instagram platform, citing Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The lawsuit, filed by Jane Doe, alleged that a sex trafficker groomed and exploited her on Instagram in 2017, using the platform to advertise her for sex over a year.
However, Judge Rita F. Lin of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed the case, stating that Meta cannot be held liable for third-party content posted on its platform. The judge rejected arguments that Instagram’s design—allowing fake accounts that facilitate trafficking—could be considered a product liability issue, reinforcing that Section 230 shields internet companies from such claims.
The judge emphasized that the core of the lawsuit revolves around Meta’s role as a “facilitator and publisher of third-party content,” making it precisely the kind of claim precluded by Section 230. Citing the Ninth Circuit’s Doe v. Grindr precedent, she stated that “the duty to include these challenged features is ‘not independent’ of Meta’s role as the ‘facilitator and publisher of third-party content’ published on the platform.” Because Doe’s claim sought to impose liability on Meta for failing to regulate who could access its platform and what content could be posted, the court found that it fell squarely within the protections of Section 230.
Judge Lin also rejected the arguments for product liability, concluding that the failure to verify users or provide better reporting tools still primarily relates to Meta’s moderation and content policies and is not a separate product defect. “A platform’s decision as to whether to allow anonymous speech, and the consequent effects on the content of the speech that proliferates on the platform, is a classic publication decision,” she said. Since all of Doe’s claims rested on Meta’s alleged failure to control who speaks and what content is posted, the judge ruled that Section 230 bars the entire case, dismissing it with prejudice and without leave to amend.
This decision is in line with a recent decision from the Ninth Circuit in Doe v. Grindr Inc., which also found that Section 230 prevents lawsuits holding platforms accountable for user-generated content. The ruling is a significant setback for trafficking survivors seeking to hold social media platforms liable under product liability theories.
Still, the key legal difference is that social media addiction lawsuits focus on the product’s design itself—arguing that addictive algorithms and engagement-driven features cause direct harm—whereas the trafficking case was dismissed under Section 230, which protects platforms from liability for third-party content. Courts have been more willing to entertain defective design claims in addiction lawsuits, while cases based on user-generated harm often fail due to tech industry immunity laws.
February 26, 2025
New Lawsuit Filed Against Social Media Platforms
In a new lawsuit filed today, a family from Shawnee, Kansas, has joined the social media MDL, alleging that multiple social media platforms caused severe harm to their minor child. The lawsuit names Meta, TikTok, Snap, and Google as defendants.
According to the complaint, the minor, now 17, developed addiction-like compulsive use of these platforms starting in 2019, leading to severe mental health struggles, including depression, anxiety, self-harm, and eating disorders. The family alleges that the platforms’ algorithms and product designs were intentionally manipulative, fostering excessive engagement while failing to provide adequate warnings about the associated risks.
The lawsuit asserts claims of strict liability for design defects and failure to warn, negligence, fraudulent and negligent misrepresentation, and violations of consumer protection laws in Kansas and California. Additionally, the family seeks damages for loss of consortium and other relief.
February 21, 2025
Court Rulings
Decisions made by the court during the hearing last week: Interlocutory Appeals: In the absence of guidance from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the court has deferred decisions on motions requesting early appeals regarding the applicability of Section 230. State Claims Adjustment: The court agreed to dismiss consumer protection claims from Washington, Ohio, and Maine, allowing these states to proceed solely under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
Meta’s Insurance Dispute: Meta’s request to put its insurance coverage dispute on hold was turned down. Instead, the court instructed all parties to submit concise briefs outlining their positions.
The next case management conference is scheduled for March 21, 2025, at 9:00 a.m.
February 14, 2025
Good MDL Ruling Expected
The MDL judge signaled at a hearing on Wednesday she will not be granting Google and Snap
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