TikTok parent ByteDance is the latest Big Tech firm to settle a social media addiction lawsuit out of court, according to a Bloomberg report from Tuesday. The move allows TikTok to avoid a potentially messy jury trial scheduled for later this month.
The terms of the settlement, which is still being finalized, are confidential, per Bloomberg.
Google was the last defendant to settle in this case late last month. Its YouTube was among the four platforms named as as allegedly addictive, and the remaining two, Snap’s Snapchat and Meta’s Instagram, are still facing trial in Los Angeles in July.
The plaintiff, known only by the initials R.K.C. is a 15-year-old Floridian who claims that he became addicted to the four named social media platforms after joining them at eight years-old. The suit claims that, thanks to features like autoplay and infinite scroll, his mental health was damaged by his addiction.
Safety lawsuits are becoming a major headache for social media companies. By Bloomberg’s count, over 3,000 active legal complaints claim that social media products are harmful or addictive.
This issue became especially real for Meta and Google in March. That month, a court in New Mexico told Meta to pay $375 million for allegedly misleading the public about the safety of Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp. Meta is appealing the court’s finding, it says.
A finding that same week in Los Angeles said Meta and Google would have to pay damages to a 20-year-old woman who claimed to have addiction and mental health problems brought on by social media. At the time, a spokesperson for Meta said that company was weighing further legal options, while Google said it would be appealing.
Gizmodo reached out to ByteDance for comment. We will update this article if we receive a reply.
