TikTok has reached confidential settlements in three lawsuits filed by young plaintiffs who contend that social media platforms were built to foster addiction and damaged their mental health, according to the plaintiffs' attorney Joseph VanZandt. The settlement terms remain private and are subject to the completion of written agreements with TikTok, VanZandt said.
TikTok had not provided a public response to a request for comment. The three resolved suits were chosen as bellwether cases from a much larger pool of litigation consolidated in California state court, and other claims against major platforms remain active.
Claims lodged against Meta Platforms, Google’s YouTube and Snap Inc’s Snapchat will proceed; a trial in the consolidated matter is scheduled for October. The bellwether selection process pulled three cases from roughly 3,300 suits before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carolyn Kuhl. Those suits together allege that social networks employed attention-grabbing product design that led to addiction and mental-health harms among young users.
The three plaintiffs whose suits TikTok has agreed to settle are identified only by initials because they are minors. According to VanZandt:
- S.J., a 15-year-old girl from Illinois, alleges self-harm, anxiety, depression, addiction and an eating disorder tied to social media use.
- P.M.Y., a 15-year-old from New Jersey, alleges addiction, depression and self-harm.
- K.D.B., an 18-year-old from Mississippi, alleges that excessive use of the platforms caused anxiety, depression, addiction, self-harm and an eating disorder.
Companies targeted in these consolidated claims have denied the allegations and stated that they take extensive measures to protect teens and other young users on their platforms. Attorneys for plaintiffs and defendants often use bellwether trials to test legal theories and jury reaction, helping them assess the likely value and trajectory of the larger set of cases and to guide settlement negotiations.
The settlements announced Monday follow a separate bellwether matter that concluded before trial in July, when a teenage plaintiff dropped claims against Meta after the other defendants reached settlements. Earlier in the litigation, the first trial finished in March and produced a $4.2 million verdict against Meta and a $1.8 million verdict against Google in a case brought by a woman who said she became addicted to social media at a young age because of the platforms' design. In that earlier matter, TikTok and Snap settled before going to trial.
Outside the state consolidated proceedings, roughly another 2,600 cases with similar claims brought by individuals, school districts, municipalities and states remain pending in California federal court. In addition, nearly every state attorney general has initiated lawsuits against social media companies in their own state courts.
As the consolidated litigation advances toward an October trial, the recent confidential settlements with TikTok close three of the designated bellwether claims but leave intact a broad array of cases and legal actions across multiple courts and jurisdictions.
Context and next steps: With bellwether settlements and a history of early verdicts and pre-trial resolutions, parties on both sides will likely continue to use trial outcomes and settlements to inform future strategy. The October trial remains on the calendar for claims against the remaining defendants.