TikTok has reached a settlement in a lawsuit filed by a teenager who alleged the platform harmed his mental health, according to a spokesperson for the plaintiff’s law firm. The agreement was reached in principle, though final details remain pending, the spokesperson for Morgan & Morgan said Tuesday. The firm represents the 15-year-old plaintiff from Florida, identified in court documents as R.K.C. TikTok did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The case was set to be the second trial in California state court concerning allegations that social media platforms are engineered to be addictive to young users, contributing to a mental health crisis among youth. Court filings state that R.K.C. began using social media around age eight and developed an addiction that led to sleep loss, depression, and anxiety. The lawsuit originally named YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok as defendants. YouTube settled in June, while Instagram and Snapchat are still scheduled for trial beginning July 27. More than 3,300 similar addiction claims against social media companies are pending in California state court, with another 2,600 cases involving individuals, school districts, and states filed in federal court. The companies have rejected the claims and stated they implement measures to protect younger users. In the first trial, which concluded in March, TikTok and Snapchat settled before proceedings began. Meta and Google proceeded to trial, where a jury found them negligent and awarded damages of $4.2 million against Meta and $1.8 million against Google. The judge later denied the companies’ request to overturn the verdict. A separate federal case brought by a Kentucky school district against the same platforms settled before trial for a combined $27 million. Lawsuits have also been filed in nearly every state, accusing the companies of misrepresenting platform safety and designing products to addict children.
