US teen drops lawsuit against Meta, Google and Snap ahead of trial

A 15-year-old girl from New Jersey, identified as P. M-Y. in California court records, dropped her lawsuit against Meta Platforms, Google, and Snap Inc on Thursday, according to a court filing, Reuters reported. The lawsuit accused the social media companies of contributing to the plaintiff's addiction, depression, and self-harm.

The companies stated that she dropped her claims without receiving any payment. Emily Jeffcott, the plaintiff's attorney, said that her client opted to dismiss the remaining claims to return to her normal life. Jeffcott initiated the process with the goal of holding social media companies accountable and pushing for reforms to safeguard young people.

Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, is currently defending itself in two trials over allegations of designing platforms to be addictive to children and misleading the public about their safety. One trial is taking place in federal court in Oakland, California, while the other, related to claims brought by Tennessee, is ongoing in state court in Nashville.

The lawsuits are among thousands filed by individuals, states, and school districts against social media companies for allegedly harming children. The companies have denied these allegations and claim they take extensive measures to protect young users on their platforms.