YouTube Lawsuit

The total number of pending actions in the social media MDL grew to 2,325.

New plaintiffs filed lawsuits in the MDL, bringing the total number of pending actions to 2,243.

More plaintiffs joined the MDL. As of December 2, 2025, there were 2,191 pending actions.

More than 100 new plaintiffs filed lawsuits in the social media mental health MDL throughout October. The total as of November 3 is 2,172.

There are now 2,053 plaintiffs in the Adolescent Social Media Addiction MDL.

The Adolescent Social Media Addiction MDL now has 1,961 pending actions.

There were 1,922 pending actions in the social media MDL.

The Minnesota state legislature passed a bill, signed by the state’s governor, that will require social media platforms to include a pop-up warning users that social media can be a mental health hazard. Proponents say the warning will be similar to labels for tobacco and alcohol products. The warning labels are set to take effect July 1, 2026. This is the first law of its type enacted in the U.S.
 

There were 1,867 pending actions in the social media MDL.

The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published a study that examined whether smartphone, social media and video game addiction can be linked to suicidal behaviors. The study looked at nearly 4,300 adolescents over four years. Researchers concluded that the most addicted or increasingly addicted kids in the group were associated with a suicidal risk two to three times higher than that of far less addicted youths.
 

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford’s office filed a lawsuit against YouTube and its parent companies alleging the platform is causing young people to suffer addictive and mental health harms. Ford said, “I will take every step to protect the children in our great state, and that includes holding accountable those who exploit and harm our youth.”

Vermont Governor Phil Scott signed S.69, a bill specifying protection for minors. In addition to privacy measures, the bill requires businesses to avoid using any personal information that results in discrimination, “reasonably foreseeable” emotional distress or “reasonably foreseeable” compulsive use. The law also requires platforms (apps and websites) to set all default privacy settings to the highest level of privacy, further ensuring the protection of minors.
 

The social media MDL judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers selected the first six bellwether trials for the MDL. Three defense cases and three plaintiff school district cases were chosen for bellwether trials. Five personal injury cases were also selected as bellwethers to proceed to trial. Motley Rice attorneys represent some of the chosen plaintiffs.

The parties discussed ongoing disputes over witness depositions, document production and data sharing during the MDL’s status conference on April 22, 2025. While the parties endeavored to resolve several issues by agreement, many discovery issues remain unresolved. The next status conference took place on June 13, 2025.

Nearly 300 plaintiffs have joined the social media MDL since the beginning of March, bringing total pending actions to 1,745.

The Corpus Christi Independent School District in Texas voted to join the social media MDL. The district’s attorney claims that 46 school districts statewide have joined the MDL. The district bans smartwatches and cellphones during the school day for students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. High school students are limited to using cellphones only during lunch and between classes.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Peter H. Kang ruled that the author of a memoir critical of Meta platforms can testify in the MDL. Sarah Wynn-Williams worked at Meta from 2011 to 2017, including time as the company’s director of public policy. Meta attempted to block her from testifying, arguing that her testimony wasn’t relevant to personal injury and that plaintiffs waited too long to depose her.

Judge Gonzalez Rogers ruled against the defendants’ request for an interlocutory appeal of the decision that school district plaintiffs can proceed in their claims that defendants’ platforms create a public nuisance. This  ruling aims to maintain coordination among plaintiffs from different states and the Judge said the MDL would “quickly splinter and fragment” if that request was granted.

Snapchat lawsuits filed by more than 60 families claim the app’s features expose children to drug dealers. While the suit names Snapchat the defendant, it could impact other social networks’ defenses built on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Section 230 protects social media companies from liability for content their users create.

Judge Gonzalez Rogers ruled that non-priority claims can go forward. Non-priority claims include general negligence, wrongful death, survival and loss of consortium.

The social media harm MDL grew to 1,464 pending actions as of March 2025.

The Houston Independent School District board voted unanimously to join the mental health MDL. The lawsuit alleges that social media platforms have reduced students’ attention spans and harmed their mental health. The district seeks recovery  for the educational impact from YouTube, Meta (Facebook, Instagram), TikTok and Snapchat.

San Diego County filed a lawsuit against social media companies to pressure these companies into removing dangerous features and paying for more mental health resources. The lawsuit claims that YouTube, Snapchat, Facebook, TikTok and Instagram cared more about profiting than protecting the health of those who spend time on their platforms.

More cases continue to be added to the Adolescent Social Media Addiction MDL. There are now 1,246 pending actions, including those against Google's Youtube.

Wisconsin’s largest school district filed a lawsuit against YouTube, Snapchat, Meta Platforms and TikTok. The Milwaukee Public Schools lawsuit alleges that the social media companies contribute to a youth mental health crisis that impacts students.

Del Norte County joined other California counties in suing social media companies. The suit alleges that YouTube, TikTok, Meta Platforms and Snapchat knowingly target children.

Federal Magistrate Judge Susan Van Keulen agreed with plaintiffs that Google, which owns YouTube, collected and held protected user data without permission. The data included information about children’s viewing habits, which may be a violation of federal law. This is a class-action lawsuit separate from the federal MDL.

The White Mountain Apache Tribe filed a federal lawsuit against several social media companies in the Northern District of California, including YouTube’s parent company Google. The tribe claims  social media companies are contributing to mental health crises among its youth. The lawsuit’s allegations also fall under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO.

Pending actions in the social media harm MDL grew to 974 as of January 2.

The number of plaintiffs in MDL-3047 increased to 815.

Judge Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is not personally liable in lawsuits alleging that social media companies deliberately addicted children to social media. The judge found plaintiffs’ allegations weren’t specific enough to establish his personal liability.

U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled in October 2024 that lawsuits filed by school districts could proceed as part of MDL 3047 against Google and other companies involved in social media. YouTube is owned by Google, which is a subsidiary of Alphabet – a publicly traded company established in 2015.

Schools districts have filed suits alleging that the design of social media apps have caused mental health harm to students in the schools’ communities. These mental health issues have led to disruptions throughout schools and resulted in increased costs as districts try to help their students navigate the negative influence of social media.

The number of plaintiffs in MDL-3047 grew to 584. The MDL included 393 plaintiffs as of January 2024.

On August 1, the number of plaintiffs in MDL-3047 was 557.

The U.S. Senate passed the Kids Online Safety Act and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act. If this legislation passes in the U.S. House of Representatives, social media platforms will have to take reasonable measures to improve parental control over their children’s social media use and reduce social media-related harm to teens and children.

Legislators in New York passed two major bills into law to address how social media companies can exploit children. The Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) For Kids Act requires thorough verification of the user’s age, as well as parental consent in certain cases. The legislation also contains other protections for minors who use social media platforms.

The New York Child Data Protection Act regulates social media sites’ ability to collect, sell and share the data of minors.

Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers set a pretrial schedule to select the first bellwether trials for MDL-3047.

Attorneys representing plaintiffs in MDL-3047 filed a master complaint.

Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers approved a leadership team for MDL 3047. Motley Rice attorney Previn Warren was named the team’s co-lead counsel.

The U.S. courts consolidated lawsuits against TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and other social media platforms into an MDL docket.

Attorneys general from 44 states and territories wrote to social media companies’ legal counsel to open a discussion about the lack of parental controls on popular platforms.