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Definitely, but so are Instagram Reels, Youtube Shorts, and any other clones of the formula.

Surely we’ll see legal action against all of them?

Probably we will? As the lawsuit notes, TikTok has specific features which arguably exacerbate the harms - their monetization is gacha-level predatory and they toss you into the “For You” ocean the instant you open the app. But it’s not surprising that the first commercial success in a new industry might be the first to face a lawsuit about the industry’s alleged harms.

First commercial success? In what new industry?

You are right , Instagram and YouTube short is the same exact content only a week delayed .

A lot of content overlap for sure, but there are some differences in the type of content and significant differences in the algorithm / the distribution of content types within one’s feed.

For example, I’ve found that YouTube shorts will identify multiple creators or formats that you engage with and rotate between them, while Instagram reels tends to find one niche you respond to and then bombard you with it.

Regarding comments, shorts will promote shallow observations about the video while reels promotes controversial ones to get one to engage by arguing.

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