TikTok has reached a confidential settlement in a landmark lawsuit over youth mental health, leaving Meta and YouTube to face a jury in California as the first major trial of its kind gets underway.
The agreement was announced by one of the plaintiff’s lawyers as jury selection opened in Los Angeles, removing TikTok from what had been expected to be a multi-company test of claims that social media design harms young users.
Terms of the settlement were not disclosed. Snap, also named in the original suit, reached its own settlement on 20 January.
The case centres on a 19-year-old Californian identified as K.G.M., who says she became addicted to the companies’ platforms at a young age because of their attention-driven design.
She blames years of depression and suicidal thoughts on the apps and is seeking to hold the companies that created them responsible.
Her lawsuit is one of three bellwether cases selected from hundreds of related filings across the United States.
With TikTok and Snap no longer part of the proceedings, the first trial will focus on Meta and YouTube.
Both continue to face allegations that their products contribute to a wider youth mental health crisis, a claim they reject.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is expected to testify.
Legal teams say the outcome of the case will shape how the remaining lawsuits are handled and could signal whether courts are prepared to challenge the long-standing legal protections that Big Tech companies have relied on for decades.
Iranian civilian and military officials have pledged their obedience to the new lead...
Entry and exit across the state border between Azerbaijan and Iran for all types of cargo vehicles, including thos...
The Group of Seven (G7) finance ministers will meet on Monday to discuss a global rise in oil prices and a joint r...
Bahrain’s state-owned oil company Bapco has declared force majeure after an attack set the country’s only refinery ablaze. The firm say...
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stori...
ByteDance will take steps to prevent the unauthorised use of intellectual property on its artificial intelligence (AI) video generator Seedance 2.0, the Chinese technology firm said on Monday.
Britain’s government has launched a TikTok account featuring footage of raids on migrants suspected of working illegally, as part of an effort to persuade voters and potential arrivals that it is getting to grips with immigration.
Trump says the United States "don’t need people that join wars after we’ve already won," targeting his criticism at UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Israel continues to fire missles at strategic sites in Iran and Gulf regions report more strikes from Iran.
Baku has completed its evacuation of staff from the Azerbaijan Consulate General in Tabriz, while most employees from the Azerbaijan Embassy in Tehran have also returned.
U.S. President Donald Trump threatened further attacks on Iran on Saturday (7 March), while the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia continued to shoot down missiles in their airspace. Meanwhile, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran would stop attacking its neighbours.
Russian attacks on Ukraine’s second largest city in the early hours of Saturday (7 March) killed 10 people, including two children. Kharkiv mayor, Ihor Terekov, said 10 residents died after a Russian ballistic missile hit a five storey apartment block in the city.
Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is a hardline cleric with strong backing from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. His rise signals continuity in Tehran's anti-Western policies.
Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD is pushing to make charging an electric car almost as quick and convenient as filling up a traditional petrol vehicle - a move that could help remove one of the biggest barriers to wider electric vehicle adoption.
South Korea will soon cease to be one of the few countries where Google Maps does not function fully, after its security-conscious government reversed a two-decade-old policy and approved the export of high-precision map data to overseas servers.
New research suggests 40,000-year-old carved objects from south-western Germany bear repeated marks arranged in organised sign sequences similar to early proto-cuneiform, although they are not regarded as a form of writing.
The chief executive of Google DeepMind, Demis Hassabis, has called for more urgent research into the risks posed by artificial intelligence, warning that stronger safeguards are needed as systems become more advanced.
NASA successfully completed a critical fueling rehearsal on Thursday (19 February) for its giant moon rocket, Artemis II, after earlier hydrogen leaks disrupted preparations for the next crewed lunar mission. The launch is scheduled for 6 March, according to the latest information from NASA.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment