TikTok has agreed to settle a high-profile lawsuit accusing social media companies of deliberately designing addictive platforms that harm children, leaving Meta and Google to face a jury in a case that could reshape how tech giants operate.
The settlement, announced by the plaintiff’s attorneys on Tuesday, came just before jury selection was set to begin in Los Angeles County Superior Court. Terms were not disclosed, and TikTok did not respond to requests for comment.
Snap Inc., the parent of Snapchat, reached its own undisclosed settlement last week.
The case centers on a 19-year-old plaintiff identified as KGM, who alleges early use of the platforms led to addiction, worsening her depression, and suicidal thoughts. Her lawsuit, selected as a bellwether, claims the companies prioritized profits by embedding addictive features akin to those in slot machines and cigarettes.
“Borrowing heavily from the behavioral and neurobiological techniques used by slot machines and exploited by the cigarette industry, Defendants deliberately embedded in their products an array of design features aimed at maximizing youth engagement to drive advertising revenue,” the lawsuit states, the Associated Press reported.
“Plaintiffs are not merely the collateral damage of Defendants’ products. They are the direct victims of the intentional product design choices made by each Defendant. They are the intended targets of the harmful features that pushed them into self-destructive feedback loops.”
Such arguments could bypass protections under the First Amendment and Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which shields companies from liability for user-posted content.
The trial, expected to last 6 to 8 weeks, marks the first time major social media firms are defending these claims before a jury.
Executives, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and YouTube head Neal Mohan, are slated to testify. Jury selection involves questioning 75 potential jurors daily through at least Thursday.
Experts compare it to the 1998 Big Tobacco settlement, which imposed billions in payments and restrictions on marketing aimed at minors.
Meta and Google deny the allegations.
A Meta spokesperson said the company strongly disagrees and is “confident the evidence will show our longstanding commitment to supporting young people.”
“Recently, a number of lawsuits have attempted to place the blame for teen mental health struggles squarely on social media companies,” Meta stated in a blog post, AP reported. “But this oversimplifies a serious issue. Clinicians and researchers find that mental health is a deeply complex and multifaceted issue, and trends regarding teens’ well-being aren’t clear-cut or universal. Narrowing the challenges faced by teens to a single factor ignores the scientific research and the many stressors impacting young people today, like academic pressure, school safety, socio-economic challenges and substance abuse.”
Google spokesperson José Castañeda called the claims against YouTube “simply not true,” adding: “Providing young people with a safer, healthier experience has always been core to our work.”
Joseph VanZandt, co-lead counsel for the plaintiff, said that despite TikTok’s last-minute settlement in this case, the company remains a defendant in other personal injury cases. The suit against Meta and Google will proceed as planned.
Clay Calvert, a nonresident senior fellow of technology policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, described it as a test for potential damages and how arguments fare before jurors, influencing thousands of similar lawsuits.
“This was only the first case — there are hundreds of parents and school districts in the social media addiction trials that start today, and sadly, new families every day who are speaking out and bringing Big Tech to court for its deliberately harmful products,” said Sacha Haworth, executive director of the Tech Oversight Project, per AP.
The outcome could force platform overhauls. A federal bellwether trial for school districts suing over child harm begins in June in Oakland, California.
More than 40 state attorneys general have sued Meta for addicting youth and fueling a mental health crisis via features on Instagram and Facebook, mostly in federal court. TikTok faces suits in over a dozen states.
In New Mexico, jury selection starts next week in a case alleging that Meta failed to protect young users from sexual exploitation. Prosecutors cite internal documents estimating 100,000 children face daily harassment on its platforms, focusing on algorithmic promotion rather than content liability.
Meta says it employs advanced technology, child-safety experts, and reporting tools to combat predators and collaborates with law enforcement and others.
