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

A 15-year-old girl from New Jersey, identified in California court records as P. M-Y., has dropped her lawsuit against Meta Platforms, Google, and Snap Inc., according to a court filing. The teen had accused the social media giants of contributing to her addiction to social media, depression, and self-harm. However, it was reported that she chose to dismiss the case without receiving any payment.

Emily Jeffcott, the plaintiff's attorney, stated that her client decided to drop the remaining claims to focus on her life and hoped to raise awareness about potential changes to protect young people like herself. The lawsuit was among more than 3,300 cases consolidated in California state court in Los Angeles and had been selected as one of three bellwether cases to go to trial in October.

Meta, Google, and Snap each denied the allegations and emphasized their efforts to keep teens safe on their platforms. The remaining cases against the companies are scheduled to be heard in October, with TikTok already having settled those claims.