TikTok settled out of court mere hours before a jury was selected for a trial regarding its involvement in a social media addiction case.
TikTok is going through a lot lately. In January 2026, the video-sharing platform’s American branch was officially acquired by a majority of U.S.-based investors, spinning off into a new entity called the TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC.
The deal sought to address national security concerns that had U.S. lawmakers seeking to ban the app outright. Now that the deal has been signed, the platform has been undergoing a slew of technical issues after a data center power outage affected users throughout the nation.
Just a day after this outage, TikTok settled out of court to avoid taking a lawsuit regarding social media addiction to trial.
TikTok settled out of court mere hours before a jury selection was set to begin for a trial regarding their involvement in a social media addiction lawsuit.
TikTok narrowly avoids taking social media addiction suit to trial
The trial was set to begin on January 27, with 19-year-old defendant ‘KGM’ alleging that TikTok, along with Meta, Snapchat, and Google, created apps that are intentionally designed to keep users glued to their screens.
As reported by Reuters, KGM says she became addicted to social media at a young age, claiming her depression and suicidal thoughts were caused by the apps’ supposedly addictive algorithms.
TikTok reached their settlement with KGM the same day the case was set to go to trial, though the terms of their agreement with the defendant remain under wraps.
Speaking to the BBC, the Social Media Victims Law Center said “the parties are pleased to have reached an amicable resolution of this dispute.”
Unsplash.com: Swello19-year-old defendant KGM accused TikTok, along with several other social media companies, of getting her addicted to the app and causing her mental distress.
Matthew Bergman, one of KGM’s attorneys, also spoke out about the suit in a statement to the BBC.
“Unfortunately, there are all too many kids in the United States, the UK, and around the world who are suffering as KGM does because of the dangerous and addictive algorithms that the social media platforms foist on unsuspecting kids,” he said.
This is one of several lawsuits filed against TikTok over the years, with the app facing numerous suits related to the deaths of children who tried fatal challenges they’d seen on the platform.
