TikTok reaches settlement with Florida teen ahead of July social media addiction trial

Tech NewsTikTok reaches settlement with Florida teen ahead of July social media addiction trialThe case is part of litigation consolidating thousands of lawsuits alleging that several major social platforms used addictive designs that harmed young people’s mental health.Listen to this article with a free profile00:0000:00Three teenagers look at their smartphone screens on April 11.Matt Cardy / Getty Images fileShareAdd NBC News to GoogleJune 30, 2026, 3:29 PM EDTBy Angela Yang and Shanshan DongLOS ANGELES — TikTok has reached a settlement in a lawsuit brought by a Florida teen who sued the company and other social media platforms, alleging they harmed his mental health, according to an attorney for the plaintiff.Limited time: Save 25% on NBC News subscriptionGet exclusive reporting, live Q&As and ad-free reading.The terms of the settlement are still being finalized, representatives for the plaintiff’s lawyers said on Tuesday. The 15-year-old boy, identified in court filings by his initials, R.K.C., accuses Meta (the parent of Instagram), YouTube, TikTok and Snap of designing their platforms to be addictive through features such as infinite scroll and autoplay. “He’s still a kid. He is still in high school and evaluating the impact that social media has had on his very young life,” Emily Jeffcott, an attorney for R.K.C., said in a phone interview Monday. “I think that should really be a lens that’s worth paying attention to.”A representative for TikTok did not respond to a request for comment. YouTube also settled with the plaintiff last week, leaving Meta and Snap to face a jury in a trial expected to begin July 27 in Los Angeles County Superior Court.R.K.C.’s case is the second to go to trial in consolidated litigation brought by thousands of plaintiffs accusing Meta, YouTube, TikTok and Snap of using addictive platform designs that contributed to mental health injuries.The first bellwether trial, involving a 20-year-old identified as K.G.M., ended in March wit...