Jury selection began on October 28, 2026, in Los Angeles Superior Court in the second bellwether trial over claims that social media platforms were designed to hook children and teenagers, with Meta and Snap as defendants, ABC News reported. The case is brought by two teenage girls who say compulsive use of Instagram and Snapchat damaged their mental health.

One plaintiff, identified in court papers as K.D.B., is an 18-year-old from Mississippi who says she began using Instagram and Snapchat as a child and that her compulsive use contributed to depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicidal thoughts. Her complaint points to features such as “Snapstreaks,” push notifications and view counts. Her lawyers argue that the apps’ addictive qualities and “harmful algorithms” are not well understood by minors or their parents, ABC News reported. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel and Instagram head Adam Mosseri are expected to testify in November.

The two plaintiffs, K.D.B. and S.J., are being tried together before Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl under an August 28 order consolidating their cases in the coordinated proceeding known as JCCP 5255, Bloomberg Law reported in September. Meta’s lawyer had argued at a hearing that trying two plaintiffs at once would be “hopelessly confusing” for jurors; Kuhl wrote that “the differences between the Plaintiffs’ claims are manageable” and that “jury confusion can be avoided.” TikTok settled with both plaintiffs before trial, and a third teenager dismissed her suit, according to Bloomberg Law, which reported in September that the teens had sued Meta, Google and Snap.

Both companies at trial deny the claims. A Snap spokesperson told ABC News the allegations “fundamentally misrepresent the plaintiffs’ experiences on Snapchat and how our platform was designed,” adding that Snapchat “opens to a camera, not a feed.” A Meta spokesperson said, “We disagree with these allegations and will defend ourselves in court,” and that “The plaintiff used TikTok far more than Instagram or Facebook.”

The first verdict and the state settlement

The trial follows a March verdict in the same courtroom. After more than 40 hours of deliberation over nine days, a jury found Meta and YouTube liable in a case brought by a 20-year-old plaintiff identified as K.G.M., the Associated Press reported on March 25. The jury awarded her $6 million, and the companies are appealing, according to ABC News. Plaintiffs in that case had to show that the companies’ negligence was a “substantial factor” in causing harm, AP reported.

Separately, in August Meta agreed to pay up to $18 billion over 10 years to settle claims by 48 states, the District of Columbia and some territories that it deliberately designed features to hook children and hid the resulting harms, AP reported. About 30% of the money is conditional on YouTube and TikTok adopting similar safety features. Meta agreed to two-hour daily time limits for teens that can be disabled only with parental permission, no push notifications during weekday school hours, age-assurance measures, stronger parental controls, limits on features such as “like” counts, and an independent auditor. New Mexico, which had already won its own trial against Meta, and Florida, whose attorney general called the deal not tough enough, were not part of it. The settlement is subject to court approval and does not resolve suits by individuals and school districts.

Why it matters

Bellwether trials are test cases, and AP has described this litigation as covering thousands of similar lawsuits. This trial is the first since the March verdict and the state settlement changed the landscape. It will also test whether a jury is persuaded by Snap’s argument that its product differs from feed-based apps, and by Meta’s argument that a plaintiff’s heavier use of a platform that has already settled undercuts the case against it.

The product changes Meta accepted in August, including time limits and school-hours notification blocks, were agreed independently of this case. Meta has urged TikTok, YouTube and Snap to adopt the same changes as what it calls a “new industry standard,” ABC News reported. California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in August that the settlement “institutes real change, real transparency, real protections for children and teens across the country,” according to AP.

What to watch

Executive testimony is scheduled for November. A verdict in the consolidated case will be read against the $6 million award in March; a win for the defendants would strengthen their position in the remaining cases, while a second plaintiff verdict would add to pressure to settle. Meta’s state settlement still needs court approval, and the March verdict is under appeal.

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