Chinese social media platform TikTok has reached a settlement just hours before the opening in the United States of a highly anticipated trial pitting it, alongside American giants Meta and YouTube, against thousands of plaintiffs accusing them of knowingly designing addictive platforms for young users.
With this confidential settlement, TikTok becomes the latest company to resolve such lawsuits before trial, following a similar agreement reached last week by Snap Inc., the parent company of Snapchat. The trial will now proceed only against Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram, and YouTube.
According to attorneys involved in the case, the agreement between ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, and the plaintiff concerned was to be announced at the opening of the hearing before the Los Angeles Superior Court.
The case is part of a pilot lawsuit involving a complaint filed by a 19-year-old Californian identified by the initials K.G.M., selected to test the judicial handling of mass litigation targeting major technology companies. The outcome could serve as a benchmark for thousands of similar cases pending or expected across the United States.
The companies are accused of deliberately designing their applications—particularly their personalized recommendation algorithms—to maximize the amount of time users, including minors, spend on their platforms.
Until now, tech giants have largely avoided such lawsuits by relying on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a federal law that limits their liability for user-generated content. Plaintiffs’ lawyers have adopted an alternative strategy, targeting product design rather than content, echoing the approach used in the 1990s and 2000s against the tobacco industry.
The plaintiff claims to have started using YouTube at the age of six, Instagram at 11, Snapchat at 13, and TikTok at 14, alleging that this early exposure led to addiction and contributed to depression, anxiety, body image disorders, and suicidal thoughts.
No specific amount has been set to assess the alleged damages, with the plaintiff primarily seeking a civil trial before a California state court.
The case comes amid growing pressure on digital giants in the United States and internationally to strengthen social media regulation and better protect minors. Several countries have recently adopted or are considering restrictive measures, while the platforms concerned have announced enhanced protection tools aimed at adolescents.
