What's the latest in US trials over claims social media is hurting children?

Nearly every US state has sued social media companies over alleged harm to children, seeking damages or financial penalties and court orders to change their platforms. Meta resolved nearly all state lawsuits against it in August through settlements worth up to $18 billion over the next decade, including an agreement to limit how teenagers use Facebook and Instagram. New Mexico and Florida did not join the deal. New Mexico courts ordered Meta to pay more than $940 million after finding it failed to protect young users from sexual exploitation, and $25 billion in a separate data privacy case; Meta said it will appeal both verdicts.

More than 1,000 US school districts have sued, alleging social media companies designed addictive platforms that contribute to anxiety, depression and self-harm. A rural Kentucky district settled before its June trial and was set to receive $27 million under the agreements. Cases brought by school districts in Charleston, South Carolina, and Tucson, Arizona, were selected for trial next.

Two teenagers who say Instagram and Snapchat caused serious mental health problems are set to take Meta and Snap to trial in Los Angeles on Wednesday. The case is one of more than 3,300 California state court lawsuits alleging that Meta, Snap, TikTok and YouTube deliberately designed addictive platforms. In March, a jury found Meta and Google negligent in an individual case and ordered them to pay $4.2 million and $1.8 million, respectively; both companies have appealed.