Meta, TikTok Paid Teens Millions Over Mental Health Harm
Most of the dozen confidential settlements ranged from $2 million to $2.5 million. About 9,800 personal injury cases remain pending against Meta, YouTube, Snap, and TikTok.
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TikTok paid four teenagers $2.5 million each to settle claims that social media use harmed their mental health, while Meta agreed to pay two of those plaintiffs a combined $7 million, Bloomberg Businessweek reported.
The deals were among a dozen confidential settlements reached in recent months.
Most ranged from $2 million to $2.5 million, Businessweek reported.
In each deal whose terms the outlet learned, the companies made no admission of wrongdoing.
In one case, YouTube agreed to pay a 15-year-old Florida plaintiff just over $2 million before TikTok settled with him for $2.5 million.
Snap also settled for an undisclosed amount.
The teenager dropped his case against Meta. His lawyer said he wanted to keep his mental health history private and avoid missing the start of football season.
TikTok settled with three other teenage plaintiffs in August, paying each $2.5 million.
One dropped her claims against the other companies. YouTube later settled with the remaining two for $2.25 million each, followed by Meta’s $7 million deal.
Snap settled with both during jury selection, ending the trial before testimony began.
A Meta spokeswoman told Businessweek that “trials, dismissals and settlements are all common” and said plaintiffs had dropped more than a quarter of the personal injury cases selected for early trials.
She cautioned against drawing conclusions about the broader litigation from a handful of cases. Google and Snap declined to comment to Businessweek.
TikTok did not respond to the outlet’s request for comment.
About 9,800 Cases Remain Pending
Roughly 9,800 personal injury cases are pending in state and federal courts against Meta, YouTube, Snap and TikTok.
The suits, which began in 2022, allege that features such as endless scrolling were designed to encourage compulsive use and contributed to conditions including anxiety and depression.
The companies deny the allegations and say they have invested in child safety tools.
In the first test trial, a Los Angeles jury found Meta and YouTube liable for harming a young woman’s mental health and awarded her $6 million in damages.
TikTok and Snap had settled with her before trial.
Alexandra Lahav, a Cornell Law School professor who studies mass litigation, said cases already prepared for trial tend to command larger settlements.
Ten plaintiffs have been selected for further test cases in 2027.
Ahmet Koçak
Ahmet Koçak is a news editor at Clash Report based in Istanbul. He previously served as Deputy Managing Editor at Türkiye Today, helping launch the digital news platform in 2023, and spent three years as Senior Editor at Daily Sabah. His work focuses on breaking news, geopolitics, international affairs, and digital journalism.
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