One by one, TikTok, YouTube and now Meta settled out of Los Angeles’s latest social media addiction trial, leaving Snap alone at the defense table. With a $25 billion New Mexico penalty against Meta also on the books, here is what to watch.

November 2, 2026  ·  By Charles F. Herd

On the world-famous island reality competition Survivor, the last player left standing is declared the grand-prize winner. Los Angeles’s current social media trial has played out similarly, with each player settling and/or dropping out one by one, with one important reversal: here, the last ones standing do not get to “win”, but instead will face the jury.

That company is Snap, better known to its users as Snapchat

Earlier this fall, in The Status of Social Media Teen-Harm, we laid out where these lawsuits stood after Meta’s settlement with the states, reported at up to roughly $17 billion. Since then, the fourth Los Angeles test case has opened, and the case now has shrunk to a single defendant.

Case Status At a Glance:

  • The court: Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, in the California coordinated proceeding known as Social Media Cases, JCCP 5255.
  • The plaintiffs: two teenagers identified as S.J., 16, of Illinois, and K.D.B., 18, of Mississippi, who allege they became addicted to social media. In late August, Judge Kuhl ordered their cases tried together before one jury, over Meta’s objection.
  • The schedule: jury selection began October 28. Opening statements are expected this week, and the plaintiffs’ lawyers expect the trial to run into mid-December.
  • The defendant: Snap, maker of Snapchat, now stands alone. This will be the first jury in these cases to hear claims against Snapchat’s design.

How the “Players” Dropped

Four companies were originally in the case, with three now settling before the jury ever heard a word:

  1. TikTok settled with both plaintiffs over the summer.
  2. YouTube followed on September 25.
  3. Meta, owner of Instagram and Facebook, settled with S.J. the week before jury selection, then with K.D.B. on October 30, two days in. Terms were not disclosed. Meta’s only comment: “We stand by our record.”

Snap has been here before; Snap settled its two earlier Los Angeles test cases before trial: K.G.M. in January and R.K.C. in July. This time, so far, it is staying to fight.

Snap’s Turn on the Stand

Snap chief executive Evan Spiegel is expected to testify, in what would be his first trial testimony. His company’s defense is that Snapchat is “built differently”: it “opens to a camera, not a feed,” with no ranking of what other people post.

One open question: whether Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram head Adam Mosseri will still be called. Judge Kuhl upheld their trial subpoenas on September 29, but that was when Meta was still in the case.

What the First Jury Did

Of the four Los Angeles test cases, only one has reached a verdict so far. In March, a jury found for a young woman identified as K.G.M. and awarded $6 million against Meta and YouTube, half of it punitive damages. Judge Kuhl denied the companies’ post-trial motions in June, and the verdict is now on appeal. The second test case, R.K.C., never reached a jury: the other companies settled, and the plaintiff dropped the remaining claims against Meta in July.

The K.G.M. verdict sent two messages:

  • A jury will hold a platform responsible for its design choices, not merely for what its users post.
  • A jury can find that conduct serious enough to punish.

The defense playbook has not changed. The platforms argue that their design choices are editorial judgments protected by the First Amendment, and that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act shields them from liability for user content. Courts have let claims about product design go forward while setting aside claims that only repackage what users post. Judge Kuhl first drew that line in the rulings we covered in The Battle for Accountability. Expect Snap to press it again before this jury.

Meanwhile, in New Mexico

Two separate New Mexico cases show what a state court will do when it finds against Meta:

  • The child-safety case ($942 million). In August, after a two-phase trial, Judge Bryan Biedscheid entered a final judgment of $942 million: a $375 million civil penalty set by the jury, plus $567 million more to address the youth mental-health crisis. Meta also must make five years of changes for New Mexico teens, including time limits for users under 18, no overnight push notifications, and stronger age checks. Meta can appeal.
  • The privacy case ($25 billion). On September 25, a Santa Fe jury found Meta liable for more than 43 million violations of the state’s Unfair Practices Act, for misleading users about privacy in the Cambridge Analytica affair. On October 21, Judge Francis Mathew set the civil penalty at $25 billion, to be paid into the state’s public-school fund. The state had sought $35 billion or more; Meta argued for a far smaller figure and says it will appeal, so payment is likely on hold. Legal experts quoted by Reuters expect the appeal to test whether a violation can be counted without proof that anyone saw the statement.

The privacy case is not about teens, however it does demonstrate how quickly per-violation penalties mount when a jury finds deception at scale.

The Federal Docket Keeps Growing

In the federal multidistrict litigation (MDL) in Oakland, In re Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation (MDL No. 3047), the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation reported 3,824 pending actions as of October 1. School-district test trials are expected in early 2027. The states’ settlement with Meta does not resolve any of these individual claims.

What It Means for Texas Families

Every verdict, and every case a company pays to keep from a jury, adds to the record of what these companies knew and when. That matters for families in Texas, whose claims run separately from the state’s own settlement with Meta. Three timing rules matter:

  • A personal-injury claim generally must be filed within two years.
  • For a minor, that clock usually does not start until the child turns 18 (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §§ 16.001, 16.003).
  • A parent’s own claims, such as for medical bills, may run on a shorter schedule.

If your family has been affected, start keeping records now: when use began, which apps were involved, what changed, and what treatment followed.

As this subject touches self-harm: if you or a young person you love is struggling, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (call or text 988) is available around the clock. For more on finding support, see our post on NAMI’s “Take the Moment” campaign.

We at the Herd Law Firm, PLLC, are mindful of the minds and well-being of the young people who most deserve our protection. As personal-injury trial attorneys (and parents) in northwest Houston, we fight for victims in all types of personal injury and death claims, and we never waver in our commitment to help injured people and their families secure the answers and compensation they deserve.

The information in this post is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For questions specific to your legal issue, please contact us at 713-955-3699 or at Charles.Herd@HerdLawFirm.com.

Sources

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