TikTok is facing new lawsuits in the US accusing it of harming children

Popular social media platform TikTok has been accused of harming and failing to protect young people in a slew of new lawsuits filed by several US states.

The lawsuits, filed Tuesday in New York, California and 11 other states, as well as the District of Columbia, add to the ongoing legal challenges the Chinese company is already embroiled in in the United States. The latest documents accuse the company of deliberately using addictive software to keep children watching for as long as possible, and misrepresenting the effectiveness of its content moderation.

TikTok has denied the allegations “which we believe are inaccurate and misleading.” It said it was disappointed that the states chose to file a lawsuit “rather than working with us on constructive solutions to sector-wide challenges.”

The platform’s parent company, ByteDance, is also fighting proposed legislation that could ban the app in the US. The company has previously said it strongly disagrees with allegations that it is failing to protect children, and has said it has “robust safeguards for teens and parents”.

US lawmakers have argued that the app could give the Chinese government access to user data and influence Americans through its wildly popular algorithm. The White House has supported the bill.

However, lawmakers and the White House are at odds with many of TikTok’s 170 million U.S. users — who represent about half the country — and with civil liberties and digital rights groups who say a ban would infringe on freedom of expression.

In June, a coalition of civil rights groups, including the Asian American Foundation and the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, argued that TikTok was critical to the visibility of marginalized groups.

“TikTok is a modern digital town square that empowers diverse communities, often neglected by traditional media, to share their underrepresented voices with people across America and the world,” attorneys representing the coalition wrote in a lawsuit.

The American Civil Liberties Union has also attacked efforts to shut down TikTok, saying politicians were “trying to trade our First Amendment rights for cheap political points.”

“Whether it’s watching cooking classes, discussing the news of the day or livestreaming protests, we have the right to use TikTok and other platforms to exchange our thoughts, ideas and opinions with people about the world,” the ACLU said.

‘Dangerous by design’

The latest lawsuits accuse TikTok of maximizing the amount of time users spend on the app in order to target them with ads.

“TikTok cultivates social media addiction to increase corporate profits,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. “TikTok intentionally targets children because they know children don’t yet have the defenses or ability to create healthy boundaries around addictive content.”

“Young people are struggling with their mental health because of addictive social media platforms like TikTok,” New York Attorney General Letitia James reiterated.

The Washington lawsuit also accused TikTok of facilitating sexual exploitation of underage users, saying TikTok’s livestreaming and virtual currency “operate like a virtual strip club without age restrictions.”

“TikTok’s platform is dangerous by design,” said Washington, DC, Attorney General Brian Schwalb. “It is a deliberately addictive product designed to get young people hooked on their screens.”

TikTok says it offers safety features including default screen time limits and privacy standards for minors under 16.

Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Vermont and Washington state also filed suit Tuesday. Other states, including Utah and Texas, had already sued the company. The US Department of Justice also filed its own lawsuit against TikTok earlier this year for allegedly failing to protect the privacy of children on the app.