San Francisco (United States) (AFP) – After Meta, TikTok and YouTube, Snapchat has in turn compromised in Los Angeles, the plaintiffs' lawyers announced on Monday, leading to the cancellation of this second test trial in the United States on the addiction of young people to social networks.

Published on: 02/11/2026 - 22:21

By signing an agreement for confidential amounts two days before the opening of the debates, Snap, parent company of the Snapchat application, once again avoids appearing for the first time before a popular jury. Other test trials are planned for early 2027 against these social media giants, intended to serve as a reference for the resolution of thousands of complaints grouped before Californian judges.

“The parties are pleased to have been able to resolve this matter amicably,” Snap said. A spokesperson assured AFP that the group remained determined to strengthen the security of its users, "because security is never a given."

“We are proud to have obtained justice for our clients in the test trials thus far, including K.D.B. and S.J.”, said John Morgan and Emily Jeffcott, attorneys for K.D.B. According to them, these agreements allow them to continue to demand accountability from social networks.

– Only one conviction –

During the first test trial, in March in Los Angeles, a jury found Meta (Instagram) and YouTube (Google) negligent and awarded $6 million to a young woman, a first. On the stand, Mark Zuckerberg, boss of Meta, and Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, made a bad impression on the jurors. Snap and TikTok had already preferred to compromise before the hearing.

Meta, who appealed, has since not allowed a jury to rule in these cases. In August, the Menlo Park (California) group concluded an agreement worth more than $18 billion with almost all American states, including new limits for teenagers on Instagram and Facebook.

Part of the payment, however, is pending the adoption of comparable restrictions by TikTok, YouTube and Snap.

TikTok and Snap have always compromised before the opening of the debates in these cases, avoiding exposing their internal documents and their managers to a jury, such as the boss of Snap, Evan Spiegel, who was to testify in Los Angeles.

TikTok thus agreed at the end of September to pay at least $100 million to Alabama, along with a two-hour daily limit for minors, to escape its first public trial.

– Design to make addictive –

The two plaintiffs, S.J., 16, from Illinois, and K.D.B., 18, from Mississippi, began using social media at ages 13 and 15, according to court documents.

They accused Snapchat of having been designed to make them addicted, with functions like Snapstreaks, these series of daily messages that cannot be interrupted, or notifications, at the cost of depression, anxiety, eating disorders and self-harm. The agreement does not entail recognition of fault.

In Meta's entourage, which compromised with the two plaintiffs last week, on Friday they also defended the choice of an amicable resolution in the interest of shareholders, without giving up contesting the accusations during future trials and on appeal.

While several countries, such as Australia, regulate or even prohibit the use of social networks by adolescents, American prosecutions target the design of the platforms and not their content, from which American law largely exempts companies.

The next test trial, brought by school districts, is scheduled for February 2027 in federal court in Oakland, near San Francisco. In Los Angeles, the next ones are scheduled to open in March 2027, according to the plaintiffs' lawyers.

© 2026 AFP

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