Reddit, Meta and Snap were all subject to selling in Thursday trade, as the market continued to digest a landmark ruling regarding the design of social media platforms and addiction.
In a lawsuit against Meta (META) and YouTube (GOOG, GOOGL), the jury ruled in favour of the plaintiffs on Wednesday, requiring them to pay $6m in punitive and compensatory damages.
The case, known as JCCP 5255, was initially filed in 2023 and was tried at the Spring Street Courthouse in Los Angeles. It revolved around a now-20-year-old woman known in legal filings as K.G.M. and her mother, Karen, who alleged that K.G.M.’s social media use, which began when she was 10, led to “dangerous dependency on [the social media companies’ products], anxiety, depression, self-harm, and body dysmorphia.”
The jury in the case said that both Meta (META) and YouTube (GOOG, GOOGL) knew the design of their platforms were dangerous, that users wouldn’t realise the danger, and that the companies failed to warn of the danger when a reasonable platform would have.
Meta said: “Teen mental health is profoundly complex and cannot be linked to a single app.
“We will continue to defend ourselves vigorously as every case is different, and we remain confident in our record of protecting teens online.”
A spokesperson for Google said: “This case misunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site.”
The ruling has implications for social media at large and raises questions over whether providers such as TikTok, Snap (SNAP), or Reddit (RDDT) could also be vulnerable to such complaints.
TikTok and Snap (SNAP) were also named defendants in the lawsuit, but each settled before the trial began.
Reddit stock was also on the back foot on Thursday following SEC disclosures of executives selling shares. The company’s CTO, Christopher Brian Slowe and its CCO Jennifer L Wong each sold thousands of shares, according the disclosure.
Novartis (NVS)
Pharma giant Novartis said on Friday it has agreed to buy biotech company Excellergy in a deal worth up to $2bn.
The deal — expected to close in the second half of the year — will mean Novartis pays $2bn in upfront and milestone payments. It is still subject to regulatory signoff.
Excellergy will deepen Novartis’s bench in food allergy treatments and immunology, the company said.
It’s the second deal announcement for Novartis in as many weeks, having also snapped up a breast cancer drug candidate for up to $3bn from US biotech Synnovation Therapeutics.
The company’s stock moved modestly higher in premarket.
Metlen Energy & Metals (MTLN.L)
Metlen Energy & Metals fell the most in the FTSE 100 on Friday morning, selling off around 8% as it delayed its financial results by nine calendar days, now slated for April 9.
The industrial energy supplier said its external auditor, PwC had requested more time.
Meanwhile, Metlen reiterated its guidance, saying it expected to report EBITDA for 2025 of circa €750m, in line with previous communication on February 6.