TikTok has agreed to settle a social media addiction lawsuit just days before trial, while Instagram and YouTube are still on the hook for the landmark legal action that accuses the tech giants of deliberately designing their platforms to exploit and harm children.
Terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but plaintiffs attorneys told The Associated Press that an agreement had been reached on Tuesday, just as jury selection was getting underway in Los Angeles. Snapchat parent company Snap Inc., settled its portion of the case last week, also for an undisclosed amount.
Two other companies, Meta’s Instagram and Google’s YouTube, are listed as defendants but have yet to reach agreements with the plaintiffs.
The trial will be closely monitored by industry and legal professionals because of the potential ramifications if the tech giants lose. The social platforms have long been shielded by Section 230, a part of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 that protects them from liability for content posted by third-party users. If successful, the plaintiff’s suit could severely weaken those protections.
The case was initially filed by a 19-year-old, identified by the initials KGM, who argued that the apps were designed to addict young people, increasing depression and suicidal thoughts. The trial is moving forward against Meta and YouTube, and TikTok remains a defendant in similar, separate cases.
KGM’s lawsuit claims the companies intentionally designed the platforms to maximize addictiveness among children to boost profits, comparing them to strategies used by tobacco and gambling enterprises. Company heads, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, are expected to testify over the next six to eight weeks.
Each company has denied the accusation, stressing that they put in layers of safeguards specifically for kids. TikTok, Meta and Google did not immediately respond Tuesday to requests for comment.
The KGM case is an early outlier ahead of a wave of similar lawsuits, including a federal trial brought by school districts in Oakland, Calif., slated for this summer. Attorneys general from more than 40 states have sued Meta, while TikTok faces similar actions in more than a dozen states.
