Plaintiffs allege algorithmic amplification of harmful content causes depression, anxiety, and self-harm in minors. Expert testimony on dopaminergic reward pathways and internal company research (Frances Haugen disclosures) supports design defect theory. JCCP jury validated causation March 2026.

Defendants

Entity	Role	Note
Meta Platforms	Platform Operator	Instagram & Facebook — primary defendant in JCCP verdict
Alphabet / Google	Platform Operator	YouTube — co-defendant in $6M JCCP verdict
Snap Inc.	Platform Operator	Snapchat — named in federal MDL
ByteDance / TikTok	Platform Operator	TikTok — growing exposure from AG actions

Litigation Timeline

Oct 2022

MDL 3047 created — N.D. Cal., Judge Gonzalez Rogers

Mar 2025

JCCP 5255 consolidated in CA Superior Court

Mar 25-26, 2026

JCCP bellwether verdict — $6M against Meta & Google

Mar 28, 2026

NM state verdict — $375M against Meta

Jun 15, 2026

Federal MDL bellwether trial — Zuckerberg to testify

Intelligence Signals

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

The effect of physical exercise on social appearance anxiety among college students: the serial mediating role of social media addiction and self-objectification.

Tang N, Zhang K, Yu L. Frontiers in public health. 2026.

6mo ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

Editorial: Technology is in our ecology.

Gilmour J. Child and adolescent mental health. 2026 Jul 21.

2d ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

Screen Time Exposure and Children's and Adolescents' Health. A Position Paper from the European Academy of Paediatrics (EAP) and European Confederation of Primary Care Paediatricians (ECPCP).

Onorati L et al.. Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992). 2026 Jul 22.

1d ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

What is asked, but not heard? Assessing characteristics of youth with severe and enduring mental health problems during diagnostics in child-and-adolescent psychiatry.

Bansema CH et al.. International journal of psychiatry in clinical practice. 2026 Jul 21.

2d ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

Long-Term Consequences of Time Spent on Social Media in Adolescence on Mental Health in Young Adulthood: A Cohort Study From Sweden.

Zetterqvist M et al.. The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine. 2026 Jul 21.

2d ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

Engagement with Algorithm-curated Short-form Video Content and Its Association with Non-suicidal Self-harm and Personality Traits.

Alharthi SS et al.. Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE. 2026 Jun 30.

23d ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

Analyzing Social Media to Infer Mental Health Status and Affective States for Crisis and Disaster Management: Scoping Review.

Müller F, Tomczyk S, Fiedrich F. Journal of medical Internet research. 2026 Jul 20.

3d ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

Parent and carer perspectives on behavioural sleep management strategies for children with ADHD.

Hornsey SJ et al.. Sleep medicine. 2026 Jul 14.

9d ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

Unveiling the Digital Maze: A Comprehensive Scoping Review on Problematic Media Use and Psychopathology in Children and Adolescents.

Crane K et al.. Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association. 2026 Jul 18.

5d ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

Not All Screen Use is Equal: Shifting the Focus from Screen Time to Problematic Use in Child and Adolescent Well-Being Research.

Tølbøll KB. Clinical child and family psychology review. 2026 Jul 17.

6d ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

Social media ban for under-16s in Aotearoa: is this the right way to support youth mental health?

Hetrick S, Clark T. The New Zealand medical journal. 2026 Jul 17.

6d ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

Adolescents' self-diagnosis of mental disorders: a qualitative study of mental health clinicians' perspectives.

Cunningham-Rowe K, Foulkes L. Child and adolescent mental health. 2026 Jul 15.

8d ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

Problematic social media use trajectories are linked with lower cognitive performance in adolescents.

Nagata JM et al.. American journal of preventive medicine. 2026 Jul 15.

8d ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

Symptom-level analysis of problematic social media use and its associations with health, well-being, and lifestyle in Lithuanian adolescents: a cross-sectional study.

Golambiauskas V et al.. BMC public health. 2026 Jul 15.

8d ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

Social Media Misinformation, Contraceptive Literacy, and Psychological Well-Being Among Romanian Adolescents and Young Adults.

Hinoveanu D et al.. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland). 2026 Jun 24.

29d ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

Adolescent Mental Health in the Age of Social Media: Clinical Risks and Policy Lessons From Australia's World-First Under-16 Restrictions.

Lim ECN, Cheng NCL, Lim CED. Cureus. 2026 Jun.

1mo ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

Problematic social media use in adolescents: Latent profile analysis and associations with mental health outcomes.

Mai J et al.. Journal of affective disorders. 2026 Jul 14.

9d ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

Adolescents' Experiences of Social Media Content Types and Wellbeing: A Photo-Elicitation Interview Study.

Winstone L et al.. Journal of adolescence. 2026 Jul 14.

9d ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

Integrating Primary and Secondary Prevention in U.S. School-Based Substance Use Programs: A Scoping Review from Initiation to Harm Reduction.

Guo Y, Rodriguez J, Grigsby TJ. Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE. 2026 Jun 26.

27d ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

The relationship between college students' social media use and core self-evaluation: the chain mediating effect of information overload and fear of missing out.

Wang L et al.. BMC psychiatry. 2026 Jul 10.

13d ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

Health anxiety and collective sense-making in the Chinese social media sphere: a topic modeling assessment of Weibo chatters.

Peng L, Tai Z, Liu X. BMC public health. 2026 Jul 11.

12d ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

Digital media balance and mental health: effects of a school-based program.

Guath M, Nutley SB, Thorell LB. Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health. 2026 Jul 10.

13d ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

Embodied well-being: Energy, exhaustion, and bodily difference among Danish schoolchildren.

Laursen CB et al.. Social science & medicine (1982). 2026 Jul 7.

16d ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

Multidimensional social cognitive profiles: implications for adolescent internalizing psychopathology.

Guazzelli Williamson V, Allen NB, Pfeifer JH. Trends in cognitive sciences. 2026 Jul 9.

14d ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

When adolescents look at their bodies: Individual and social explanations for the dissatisfaction with what they see-A cross-sectional study.

Woldetinsae L, Vafaei A, Phillips SP. Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique. 2026 Jul 9.

14d ago

SEC EDGARfinancialSocial Media Addiction

— (2026-07-09)

10-Q/A

14d ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

Evolving Patterns of Adolescent Nicotine Use in the United States: An Ecological Perspective.

Lippert AM. Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. 2026 Jul 1.

22d ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

Cyberbullying victimization identification and large language model-assisted assessment: a study of cyberbullying victimization lexicon construction and validation.

Liu X et al.. Frontiers in psychiatry. 2026.

6mo ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

Mental health support in German schools: a cross-sectional survey study of principals on demand vs. provision of support services.

Köhler HE et al.. Frontiers in public health. 2026.

6mo ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

Reproductive health and healthcare experiences in autistic and non-autistic individuals assigned female at birth.

Bokor L et al.. Women's health (London, England). 2026 Jan-Dec.

just now

SEC EDGARfinancialSocial Media Addiction

— (2026-07-07)

10-Q/A

16d ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

The Bidirectional Relationship Between Internalizing Problems and Problematic Social Media Use Among Adolescents and Young Adults: Longitudinal Mediation of Different Executive Function Subcomponents.

Xu W, Shen X, Wang JL. Journal of adolescence. 2026 Jul 6.

17d ago

SEC EDGARfinancialSocial Media Addiction

— (2026-06-10)

EXHIBIT 4.1

1mo ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

Primary Prevention Interventions for Problematic Substance Use in Adolescents: A Scoping Review.

Borkenhagen D et al.. Journal of prevention (2022). 2026 Jul 4.

19d ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

Rethinking social media metrics: Daily interaction valence and well-being in university students.

Sahib A et al.. The British journal of social psychology. 2026 Jul.

22d ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

Digital-Media Use and Mental Health in Children and Adolescents.

Brandhorst I et al.. Zeitschrift fur Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie und Psychotherapie. 2026 Jul.

22d ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

The association between digital peer support and mental health outcomes in university students: a cross-sectional study.

Charan IA et al.. Frontiers in public health. 2026.

6mo ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

Governing Ethical Tensions in Youth Digital Mental Health Research.

Ørjasæter KB et al.. JMIR mental health. 2026 Jun 30.

23d ago

SEC EDGARfinancialSocial Media Addiction

— (2026-06-30)

10-Q

23d ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

Accelerometer-derived movement phenotypes and adolescent mental health in pediatric obesity: A causal machine-learning study.

Pan S et al.. International journal of clinical and health psychology : IJCHP. 2026 Apr-Jun.

1mo ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

Scrolling into substance use: Social media use frequency and substance use among U.S. high school students.

Prakash P, Beltran-Silva F, Teotia A. Drug and alcohol dependence reports. 2026 Sep.

just now

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

[Research progress on the impact of the digital information environment on the health of children and adolescents].

Zhu KH et al.. Zhonghua liu xing bing xue za zhi = Zhonghua liuxingbingxue zazhi. 2026 Jun 10.

1mo ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

Combined Internet-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Face-to-Face Physiotherapy in Primary Health Care for Chronic Widespread Pain: Randomized Controlled Trial.

Bergenheim A et al.. Journal of medical Internet research. 2026 Jun 29.

24d ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

Reimagining accessibility in adolescent mental health: PESoMind, a dance-based framework for wellness promotion.

Srinivasan T, Khan A. Frontiers in public health. 2026.

6mo ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

The Effect of the Cognitive-Behavioral Approach-Based Psychoeducation Program on Social Media Addiction and Self-Control of University Students Receiving Health Education.

Durar E, Soylu FK. Journal of child and adolescent psychiatric nursing : official publication of the Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nurses, Inc. 2026 Aug.

just now

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

The Relationship Between Perceived Stress and Social Anxiety in Junior High School Students: The Chain Mediating Role of Psychological Inflexibility and Problematic Social Media Use.

Fang M, Wang Z. Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland). 2026 Jun 2.

1mo ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

Perceived Impact of Social Media Use on Mental Health and Sleep-Related Outcomes Among Healthy Social Media Users: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Aljunaid MA et al.. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland). 2026 Jun 16.

1mo ago

PubMedpubmedSocial Media Addiction

Social Media, Adolescent Aesthetic Pressures, and Ethical Decision-Making in Pediatric Plastic Surgery.

Gimenez Lynch C, Miller K, Thaller S. The Journal of craniofacial surgery. 2026 Jun 26.