A 15-year-old Florida boy who sued Meta claiming he was addicted to and harmed by platforms such as Instagram has dropped his case, narrowing a landmark wave of litigation over social-media's effects on children. The plaintiff, identified by the initials R.K.C., had in recent weeks settled the same claims against TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube.

R.K.C.'s claims were due before a Los Angeles jury next week, as part of proceedings in which Meta and YouTube have already lost once. A Meta spokeswoman said the claims "never held up" and that the outcome showed the company "will not back away from defending ourselves against baseless lawsuits." She added that R.K.C. received no payment for dropping his claims.

Lawyers for R.K.C., Emily Jeffcott and Rahul Ravipudi, said the teenager "came into this process wanting to hold social media companies accountable and push for changes to protect young people like himself." They cited concerns about a jury trial stretching for weeks, and said he was "ready to close this chapter and focus on his recovery."

R.K.C. had argued that features such as infinite scroll and autoplay drove compulsive use that caused anxiety and sleep deprivation. A previous jury found Meta and YouTube liable for harming a young woman's mental health, awarding her $6mn — the first time platforms were held liable for their effects on users. The Los Angeles Superior Court oversees hundreds of similar suits; the next is set for October.

Across the US, thousands of lawsuits accuse Meta and other major platforms of harming children. R.K.C.'s exit from the spotlight removes one high-profile plaintiff, but the broader legal pressure on the industry shows no sign of easing.

R.K.C.'s departure narrows the field but does not end it. Hundreds of claims remain active in the Los Angeles court, and the next case to reach a jury will test whether the liability finding against Meta and YouTube holds up under appeal. For the platforms, each settlement is a line item; each adverse verdict is a precedent. The strategic calculus is shifting from denial to risk-management, as the cost of litigation begins to rival the cost of change.## The road to trial

R.K.C.'s departure narrows the field but does not end it. Hundreds of claims remain active, and the next case to reach a jury will test whether the liability finding against Meta and YouTube survives appeal. For the platforms, each settlement is a line item and each adverse verdict a precedent. The strategic calculus is shifting from denial toward risk management, as the cost of litigation begins to rival the cost of change.

The next suit to reach a jury, set for October, will test whether the precedent against Meta holds.