TikTok settles suit by California woman who alleged platform addiction

People reports TikTok reached a settlement on Monday, Jan. 26 with attorneys for a California woman who sued TikTok, Snap Inc., Meta and YouTube alleging the platforms caused addiction.

Plaintiff's attorneys Joseph VanZandt and Mark Lanier said they reached an agreement, though the terms were not disclosed. Attorney Mark Lanier said, "This is a good resolution, and we are pleased with the settlement," per The New York Times. The plaintiff, identified only as K.G.M. and described as 20 years old, alleged she became addicted and later experienced anxiety, depression and body-image issues beginning when she was a child, the NYT reported. The suit also alleged the platforms were designed to attract younger users without sufficient consideration of dangers such as sexual predation, bullying and promotion of self-harm or suicide, the Los Angeles Times reported. TikTok's settlement came nearly a week after Snap Inc. announced its own settlement on Jan. 20.

Meta and YouTube have described the claims as "baseless," NPR reported, and those companies will proceed to trial, which began on Tuesday, Jan. 27 with jury selection. Top executives including Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Instagram head Adam Mosseri and YouTube’s Neal Mohan are expected to testify. The case has been described as a "test case" for thousands of similar lawsuits, Reuters said.