TikTok just pulled out of what could become the tech industry's defining legal moment. The ByteDance-owned platform settled with plaintiffs hours before a landmark addiction trial kicks off in Los Angeles Superior Court, leaving Meta and YouTube to face allegations that their platforms were deliberately designed to hook teens. The move comes as the industry braces for a wave of tobacco-style litigation that could reshape how social media companies build their products.
TikTok made a quiet exit from what was shaping up to be the social media industry's biggest courtroom showdown. The company agreed to settle with plaintiffs just as a high-profile addiction trial was set to begin Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, according to court filings reported by CNBC.
The trial will move forward as scheduled, but now the spotlight falls entirely on Meta and Alphabet's YouTube. Both companies face allegations that they knowingly designed their platforms to create addictive behaviors in teenagers and young adults, causing lasting harm to their mental health.
"This is a good resolution, and we are pleased with the settlement," Mark Lanier, an attorney representing the plaintiff, said in a statement to CNBC. "Our focus has now turned to Meta and YouTube for this trial."
TikTok isn't completely off the hook. The company remains a defendant in other personal injury cases working their way through the courts, and a separate federal trial later this year will pit TikTok against the same accusations alongside Meta, YouTube, and Snap.
Speaking of Snap, the Snapchat parent company reached its own settlement last week and bowed out of the Los Angeles trial. The dual settlements suggest the platforms may be trying to limit their exposure before damaging internal documents or testimony become public.
