More than a dozen states are suing TikTok, saying it is harmful to children and intended to get them hooked

More than a dozen states, led by California and New York, have sued TikTok for allegedly misleading the public about the safety of the popular video app, claiming it was deliberately designed to keep young people hooked on the employ.

The lawsuits, filed separately on Tuesday in 13 states and the District of Columbia, allege TikTok has violated consumer protection laws and contributed to a teen mental health crisis.

The bipartisan group of attorneys general is seeking to force TikTok to change product features that they claim are manipulative and harm teens. The lawsuits also ask the court to impose financial sanctions on the company.

It’s the latest headache for TikTok, which is trying to do just that ward off a US ban on the app is scheduled for January 19 unless the company cuts ties with ByteDance, its China-based parent company.

Used by half of America, TikTok will now defend itself against a barrage of lawsuits stemming from growing national unease over the design of social media platforms and whether social media overuse contributes to mental health health issues such as depression and social media. body problems.

While pinpointing the exact role social media plays in exacerbating mental health issues is complicatedstate authorities claim that TikTok is prioritizing the company’s growth and profits over the safety of children.

“TikTok intentionally targets children because they know children do not yet have the defenses or ability to create healthy boundaries around addictive content,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. “TikTok must be held accountable for the harm it has caused by taking away the time – and childhood – of America’s children.”

Last year a coalition of states was formed has filed a similar lawsuit against Instagram and Facebook owner Meta, accusing the tech giant of failing to keep children safe on its popular apps. Those cases are still pending.

TikTok, like most social media apps, tries to keep users as engaged as possible. But the attorneys general say features like the hyper-personalized algorithm, the ability to scroll endlessly, and the app’s use of push notifications encourage overuse, which can lead to emotional and behavioral changes. The states say the company has downplayed the negative effects of the perceived dependency the app creates in an effort to boost its bottom line.

The lawsuits also target the use of TikTok beauty filterswhich allows users to appear thinner and younger, or apply virtual makeup to a face using AI.

“Beauty filters are especially harmful to young girls,” New York Attorney General Letitia James wrote in a statement. “Beauty filters can cause body image issues and promote eating disorders, body dysmorphia and other health problems.”

New York researchers allege that TikTok failed to warn teens about these harms, and instead sent beauty filters to its youngest users to keep them on the app longer.

Adolescents are left with a growing sense of inadequacy and self-doubt after using TikTok, prosecutors say.

The District of Columbia lawsuit alleges that TikTok traps teens in online bubbles that “bombard them with exactly the kind of content TikTok claims it does not allow, including videos about weight loss, body image, and content about self-harm.”

TikTok’s livestream function is also being abused, prosecutors allege. Specifically, they claim that thousands of underage users have hosted live-streamed videos where users can pay to send the streamer money in the form of TikTok “gifts,” a type of digital currency. According to the lawsuits, this was used to further the sexual exploitation of children.

TikTok spokesperson Alex Haurek said the allegations in the lawsuits are misleading.

“We provide robust safeguards, proactively remove suspected underage users, and have voluntarily launched safety features such as default screen time limits, family linking, and default privacy for minors under 16,” Haurek said.

Haurek noted that the lawsuit follows more than two years of negotiations with the attorneys general.

“It is incredibly disappointing that they have taken this step instead of working with us on constructive solutions to industry-wide challenges.”

The lawsuits are now being heard in fourteen separate state courts. State officials say the cases will not be consolidated because each complaint depends on specific consumer laws. Individual trial dates will ultimately be determined months or years from now unless the cases are dismissed or a settlement is reached.

In response to the concerns, many social media apps, including TikTok, have improved child safety tools.

Last month, Meta announced a host of new features that will improve parental controls on Instagram and make all teen accounts private in an effort to protect young people from interacting with potential predators.

Similarly, young TikTok users cannot send direct messages and their accounts are set to private by default to limit their exposure to people they don’t know. The app also uses screen time reminders to let users know how long they have been scrolling.

But in their lawsuits, the states dismiss TikTok’s security measures as pointless public relations stunts, arguing that the company lacklusterly verified users’ identities when opening accounts, allowing adolescents to lie about their age and its child safety measures can circumvent.

Bonta, California’s attorney general, wrote in a statement that TikTok’s child protection features “do not work as advertised.”

“The harmful effects of the platform are far greater than recognized,” he continued, “and TikTok does not prioritize safety over profit.”

In addition to New York, California and the District of Columbia, the states suing TikTok include Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Jersey, Oregon, South Carolina, Vermont and Washington.

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