By Madlin Mekelburg and Maia Spoto, Bloomberg
TikTok is moving to settle a lawsuit with a woman who alleged that the company and other social media giants designed their platforms to addict young users, the first such case to go to trial.
A lawyer for the woman confirmed that an agreement in principle had been reached hours before jury selection started in Los Angeles on Tuesday. The woman’s similar claims against Meta Platforms Inc.’s Facebook and Instagram and Google’s YouTube will proceed as planned for now. Terms of the proposed settlement have not been disclosed.
Snap Inc. struck a separate confidential settlement on Jan. 20 with the woman, who is being identified only by her initials K.G.M.
“Plaintiff KGM and defendant TikTok have reached an agreement in principle to settle her case,” Joseph VanZandt, an attorney for the woman, said in a statement.
K.G.M.’s case is the first to go to trial among thousands of complaints filed by young users and their family members, accusing the social media companies of profiting at the expense of young people, who are driven to spend excessive time on screens.
The trial, and others scheduled for later this year, will serve as critical tests for the remaining cases. If the companies lose at trial, it could create pressure for high-dollar settlements.
Bloomberg Intelligence Litigation Analyst Matthew Schettenhelm said in a research note that the companies face exposure in the billions of dollars.
“Social-media companies likely can’t avoid paying hundreds of millions of dollars — and potentially far more,” he wrote.
Lawyers representing the companies have argued that there is not enough evidence to support claims that they designed their platforms to hook young users. They also say that federal law shields them from liability in cases involving content posted to the platforms.
Any decision to settle the case ahead of trial means that specific allegations against the company will not be discussed before the jury. Eric Goldman, a professor at Santa Clara University School of Law, said that it’s hard to infer much from the settlements, without knowing specific terms.
“We don’t know if any money moved,” he said. “We don’t know if any remedial changes were agreed to, we don’t know if this was some kind of delayed tactic to defer issues, if this was some strategic choice to deal with a particularly sympathetic victim. There’s so many things that could have gone into that decision, and so it’s just impossible to jump to conclusions.”
Snap said in a statement that both parties “are pleased to have been able to resolve this matter in an amicable manner.”
A representative for TikTok did not respond to a request for comment.
“At this point, there’s no dialogue for settlement with Google or with Meta,” said Mark Lanier, a lawyer for K.G.M.
Google confirmed there are no settlement talks and Meta declined to commet.
Lexi Hazam and Previn Warren, the lead attorneys representing personal injury plaintiffs in a parallel federal court case, called the Snap and TikTok settlements an “important step” in seeking accountability from the tech companies.
“As the trials begin, more evidence will come to light of the widespread harm caused by social media platforms that put profit over adolescent safety,” they said in a statement.
Opening arguments and testimony in K.G.M.’s trial are expected to begin next week and run through around March 20.
During jury selection on Tuesday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carolyn Kuhl informed prospective jurors that their personal social media profiles will not be accessed by anyone involved with the litigation.
“We know that many of you use defendants’ social media and video sharing platforms, and you’re not being asked to stop your use during the time of trial,” Kuhl said. She told prospective jurors not to create new social media accounts, change their settings or investigate platform features they don’t normally use until they’re excused from service.
In addition to the approximately 2,500 personal injury cases, the social media companies face consumer protection suits by about three dozen state attorneys general and public nuisance suits by more than 1,000 public school districts.
Those cases, which are expected to start going to trial later this year in federal court, also expose the tech giants to billions of dollars in damages and potential changes in how the platforms operate.
(Updates with plaintiff lawyer comment about Meta, Google settlement talks.)
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