TikTok Settles Social Media Addiction Case and Boba Giant Mixue Lands in L.A.

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L.A. Times Studios

News, Daily News, Society & Culture, The Times, California

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🗓️ 28 January 2026

⏱️ 11 minutes

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Summary

TikTok agreed to settle a landmark social media addiction case on Tuesday, just before a jury trial against three of the world's biggest tech companies kicked off. Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino is expected to leave Minneapolis as early as today, according to the Associated Press. Also, survivors and many others observe International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Meanwhile, Highway One through Big Sur is fully open for the first time in more than three years, but experts fear climate change could threaten more closures. And, Noma's superstar chef René Redzepi is bringing his food to LA—a tasting menu in Silver Lake that'll go on from March 11th until June 26th—at the cool price of $1,500 for a reservation. In business, Chinese boba giant Mixue opened its first U.S. location in Hollywood. Soon after the opening, it launched more locations in various New York neighborhoods. Read more at LATimes.com.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is an LA Times Studios podcast.
0:07.0	Hi, I'm Faith Pino from LA Times Studios in Washington, D.C.
0:14.0	Here are some of today's top stories from the Los Angeles Times.
0:18.0	We start with some big news out of Los Angeles, with TikTok agreeing to settle a landmark
0:24.1	social media addiction case on Tuesday, just hours before a jury trial against three of the
0:30.1	world's biggest tech companies kicked off.
0:33.4	The video platform was one of three apps, including Instagram and YouTube, that was headed
0:38.7	to Los Angeles Superior Court to defend claims that their platforms intentionally addict
0:44.3	and harm children.
0:46.1	That's a concern echoed by social media activists around the world.
0:50.9	These platforms are designed to create addiction. Young people are kept there by mindless, endless,
0:58.0	endless, numbing, scrolling, being force-fed content that no child should ever be exposed to.
1:05.0	This, it's not free will.
1:08.0	The details of TikTok's settlement were not immediately disclosed, but at the center of the
1:13.6	case is a 19-year-old, identified only by the initials KGM, who claims that social media addiction
1:20.6	from an early age worsened her depression and suicidal thoughts.
1:24.6	The trial will proceed as scheduled against Instagram's parent company
1:29.1	Meta and YouTube. KGM's case, along with two others that were selected for Bellwether
1:35.0	trials, argue that these platforms were deliberately designed to keep kids hooked, boosting
1:41.0	profits through constant engagement. The tech companies, though, deny those claims, saying that they've added safeguards to their
1:48.5	apps and that teen mental health is a complex issue.
1:52.6	This comes as lawmakers in France on Tuesday passed a bill to ban social media for kids
	...

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