CONNECT WITH US
Social Media

Social Media

Snap settles lawsuit accusing platform of fueling teen depression and eating disorders

TechCrunch – Social logo

Published on

Add as a preferred source on Google
Snap settles lawsuit accusing platform of fueling teen depression and eating disorders

Snap has reached a settlement in a lawsuit brought by two teenagers who accused the company of designing its platform to be addictive and contributing to their depression, anxiety, and eating disorders, as first reported by Reuters. The plaintiffs had previously reached settlements with Meta, TikTok, and YouTube.

The trial was set to be Snap’s first in a broader wave of litigation over social media’s impact on young users. The company had already settled its other cases scheduled for trial. Snap CEO Evan Spiegel was expected to take the stand.

The plaintiffs said they started using YouTube as young as age 3 and other social media platforms at around age 9. They said they developed compulsive usage habits, which they attributed to features such as autoplay and infinite scrolling.

“The Parties are pleased to have been able to resolve this matter in an amicable manner,” a Snap spokesperson said in a statement to TechCrunch. “We’ve built safeguards, launched safety tutorials, and partnered with experts and because safety is never finished, we remain committed to continually strengthening the safety, privacy, and well-being of our community.”

Social media giants are facing thousands of lawsuits in federal and state courts over claims that they knowingly designed their platforms to hook young users and fuel a youth mental health crisis involving anxiety, depression, and suicide.

Buy One Pass, Get a Second Free Cover more ground at TechCrunch’s ultimate founder bootcamp of the year by bringing your co-founder or partner for free Book before the BOGO deal expires


Source link
Related Topics:Social Media

Disclaimer

We strive to uphold the highest ethical standards in all of our reporting and coverage. We TheMorningPulse.fyi want to be transparent with our readers about any potential conflicts of interest that may arise in our work. It's possible that some of the investors we feature may have connections to other businesses, including competitors or companies we write about. However, we want to assure our readers that this will not have any impact on the integrity or impartiality of our reporting. We are committed to delivering accurate, unbiased news and information to our audience, and we will continue to uphold our ethics and principles in all of our work. Thank you for your trust and support.