TikTok has agreed to settle three lawsuits brought by young people who accuse social media companies of designing their platforms to be addictive and harming their mental health.
Joseph VanZandt, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said the terms of the settlements are confidential and subject to the finalization of written settlement agreements with TikTok. TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The three settling cases are among thousands of similar lawsuits consolidated in a state court in California, US. The plaintiffs' claims against Meta Platforms, Google's YouTube and Snap Inc's Snapchat will continue. A trial is scheduled in October.
The three settling cases were selected as bellwether trials from among about 3,300 lawsuits before the Los Angeles Superior Court.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carolyn Kuhl is overseeing consolidated claims that social media platforms are addictive and harm young users. The defendant social media companies denied the allegations and said they take extensive steps to keep teens and young users safe on their platforms.
Attorneys often use bellwether verdicts to gauge how juries may view similar claims, helping them assess the potential value of remaining cases and guide settlement negotiations.
The three settling plaintiffs are identified only by their initials because they are minors. S.J., a 15-year-old girl from Illinois, US, alleged the platforms caused her to suffer from self-harm, anxiety, depression, addiction and an eating disorder.
P.M.Y., a 15-year-old from New Jersey, US, alleged addiction, depression and self-harm. K.D.B., an 18-year-old from Mississippi, US, alleged that over-use of the platforms caused anxiety, depression, addiction, self-harm and an eating disorder.
The settlements come after another bellwether case ended before trial in July, when a teenage plaintiff dropped his claims against Meta after the other defendants settled. The first trial in the litigation, which ended in March, resulted in a $4.2 million verdict against Meta and a $1.8 million verdict against Google.
The first-trial case was brought by a woman who said she became addicted to social media platforms at a young age because of their attention-grabbing design. TikTok and Snap settled that case before trial.
Another 2,600 cases making similar claims, brought by individuals, school districts, municipalities and states, are pending in a federal court in California, US. Nearly every US state attorney general has sued social media companies in their own state courts. The cases are part of broad litigation against the world's largest social media companies, which includes individual plaintiffs, US school districts and state attorneys general.
