根据原告律师的说法，Inc.正在就两名青少年提起的诉讼达成和解，这两名青少年称，多年在该公司照片分享应用上强迫性地滚动和发帖，导致他们出现心理健康问题。
Inc. is finalizing a settlement in a lawsuit filed by two teenagers who say years of compulsive scrolling and posting on the company’s photo-sharing app contributed to their mental health struggles, according to attorneys for the plaintiffs.
该协议在洛杉矶陪审团选拔过程中达成，将使该公司避免下一场备受关注的社交媒体成瘾审判。加州州法院的此案原本将是数千起此类诉讼中的最新试金石。这两名青少年此前已与Meta Platforms Inc.、TikTok以及Google旗下的YouTube达成了保密和解。
The agreement, reached partway through jury selection in Los Angeles, would enable the company to avoid the next high-profile social media addiction trial. The case in California state court was set to be the latest test of thousands of such lawsuits. The teenagers previously reached confidential settlements with Meta Platforms Inc., TikTok and Google’s YouTube.
“我们的最终目标是让这些社交媒体公司为其行为对全国数百万儿童造成的影响负责，这些和解让我们能够继续朝着这个目标努力，”代表其中一名青少年的律师John Morgan和Emily Jeffcott在宣布协议的声明中表示。和解条款未予披露。
“Our ultimate goal is to hold these social media companies accountable for how their actions have impacted millions of children across the country, and these settlements allow us to keep building toward that goal,” John Morgan and Emily Jeffcott, attorneys for one of the teens, said in a statement announcing the agreement. Terms of the settlement weren’t disclosed.
法官合并审理的这两起案件，原本将是数千起由年轻用户及其家属提起的诉讼中第二起进入审判阶段的案件，这些诉讼指控社交媒体公司设计平台以牺牲年轻人的安全和心理健康为代价来牟利。
The two cases, which were combined by the judge, would have been the second to go to trial among thousands of lawsuits filed by young users and their family members accusing the social media companies of engineering their platforms to profit at the expense of young people’s safety and mental health.
这些公司否认这些指控，并强调已推出工具和资源，支持平台上青少年的家长。它们还试图突出用户在网上的积极体验。Snap未立即回应置评请求。
The companies deny these allegations and stress that they have rolled out tools and resources to support parents with teens on the platform. They’ve also sought to highlight positive experiences that users have online. Snap didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
原定本周开庭审理的案件中的两名青少年原告，在法庭文件中被标识为S.J.，一名来自伊利诺伊州的16岁女孩，以及K.D.B.，一名来自密西西比州的18岁女性。两人均声称，其大量使用Snapchat和其他社交媒体平台导致并加剧了其抑郁、焦虑和进食障碍。
The teenage plaintiffs in the case that was scheduled to go to trial this week are identified in court documents as S.J., a 16-year-old girl from Illinois, and K.D.B., an 18-year-old woman from Mississippi. Both claim their heavy use of Snapchat and other social media platforms caused and contributed to their depression, anxiety and eating disorders.
家庭不应不得不寻求陪审团审判“来解决这么大的问题”，该案原告审判律师马克·兰尼尔在一份声明中表示。“这些青少年需要的是永久性的解决方案，是真正保护儿童的设计改变，而不是逐案的权宜之计。在那之前，我们将继续审理这些案件。”S.J.和K.D.B.的诉讼从更大的诉讼池中被选出，作为所谓的钟表案件。这些早期审判的结果可能会鼓励更广泛的和解谈判，让律师看到其论点和证据的优势与劣势，并最终确定剩余案件的价值。
Families shouldn’t have to seek jury trials “to solve a problem this big,” Mark Lanier, the plaintiffs’ trial counsel for the case, said in a statement. “What these teenagers need is a permanent fix, real design changes that protect kids, not case-by-case patches. Until that happens, we will keep trying these cases.”S.J. and K.D.B.’s lawsuits were selected from the larger pool of litigation to serve as so-called bellwether cases. The outcomes of these early trials could encourage broader settlement talks by showing lawyers the strengths and weaknesses of their arguments and evidence — and ultimately how much the remaining cases are worth.
今年早些时候，第一起钟表案件针对Meta Platforms Inc.和Alphabet Inc.旗下的Google开庭审理。一名20岁的女性获得600万美元赔偿，陪审团认定这些公司在平台设计和运营上存在过失，本应警告其产品可能对年轻用户造成伤害。Snap和TikTok在该审判前与该女性达成了保密和解协议。
The first bellwether case went to trial earlier this year against Meta Platforms Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google. A 20-year-old woman was awarded $6 million after a jury found the companies were negligent in the design and operation of their platforms and should have warned that their products could harm young users. Snap and TikTok reached confidential settlement agreements with the woman before that trial.