TikTok reached an agreement late Monday to settle a lawsuit over claims that social media companies had engineered their products to hook young users, avoiding the first in a series of landmark trials.
The trial, which is scheduled to begin in the California Superior Court of Los Angeles County with jury selection on Tuesday, is the first in a series of lawsuits expected to be heard this year against Meta, YouTube, Snap and TikTok. The cases stem from lawsuits filed by thousands of individuals, school districts and state attorneys general, accusing the companies of making their products addictive, like cigarettes, and causing personal injury.
The plaintiffs are seeking monetary damages and changes to the design of social media platforms to curb excessive use. If they succeed in arguing that the tech titans created defective products that injured millions of young American users, the cases — which are regarded as bellwethers — could open new lanes of liability against the tech titans.
TikTok and Snap have both now settled the first case, leaving Meta and YouTube as the remaining defendants. The case involves a 20-year-old California woman identified in a 2023 lawsuit as K.G.M. The woman said she had become addicted to the social media sites as a child and experienced anxiety, depression and body-image issues as a result. Meta’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, and YouTube’s chief, Neal Mohan, are expected to testify.
TikTok did not respond to requests for comment. Joseph VanZandt, one of the lead lawyers for the plaintiff, confirmed the settlement but did not disclose details of the agreement. He said the trial against YouTube and Meta would proceed as scheduled.
TikTok and Snap are still defendants in more than a dozen other trials expected in state and federal courts this year. Roughly nine cases will be heard in the series of trials in Los Angeles. A second set of federal cases will go to trial this summer in Oakland, Calif., at the U.S. District Court of Northern California.
The lawsuits argue that features like infinite scroll, auto video play and algorithmic recommendations have led to compulsive social media use and caused depression, eating disorders and self-harm.
The companies deny the allegations and say there isn’t a clear link between social media use and addiction. They also point to a federal shield law, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, that protects them from liability for what their users post online.
Cecilia Kang reports on technology and regulatory policy for The Times from Washington. She has written about technology for over two decades.
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