A Florida teenager has dropped his lawsuit against Meta Platforms days before a long-anticipated California trial was set to kick off, ending his case before he reached a court verdict against the parent of Facebook and Instagram.

The case was among several examples of test cases that will rock the social media industry in a growing trend of lawsuits against companies alleged to be designing products that spur use among minors and are linked to mental health problems like depression and anxiety, according to Reuters.

In court documents, the teen only had his initials and said that he believed social media had a negative impact on his mental health when he used them in his childhood. The closure of the trial was made through his legal team based on the emotional impact of the trial and the need to prioritise recovery and therapy, according to his legal team.

It was originally filed against Meta, YouTube, Snapchat and TikTok. Earlier this year, confidential settlements were reached in court proceedings against YouTube and TikTok, and now, a source with knowledge of the case confirms that Snapchat settled before trial as well.

But, according to Meta, the claims were voluntarily dismissed, with no monetary amount paid to the plaintiff. The company stated the claims were without merit, and the verdict confirmed it would continue to challenge the case.

This is one individual lawsuit but is just a piece of a much bigger legal battle. In California state courts, over 3,300 cases are pending against social media companies alleging they intentionally created platforms that lead children to use them in an addictive manner. There are also numerous other lawsuits filed by individual students, school districts, local governments, and states in federal court, for thousands more.

The vast majority of these cases allege that the tech companies didn’t adequately warn users of potential mental health risks as they introduced features designed to maximise user engagement. The companies have always denied those claims and claim they are still rolling out safety features, parental controls and other measures designed to keep younger users safer.

Last year, another California jury ruled in favour of a plaintiff in a similar youth social media case, ordering Meta and Google to pay damages for allegedly creating an addictive environment for their users. One of the biggest rulings yet in the case is the verdict.

Even as a number of high-profile cases are settled prior to trial, the controversy over the effects of social media on young people is likely to persist with thousands of cases still pending.