TikTok faces lawsuit from 14 prosecutors for alleged harm to children’s mental health in the US

California and New York are leading the pack of attorneys general seeking to make the popular Chinese platform pay for “exploiting and harming” its youngest users. They filed lawsuits against TikTok on Tuesday, alleging that the platform has “addicted” young people and damaged their mental health.

“TikTok claims to be safe for young people, but this is far from the truth. Young people across the country have died or been injured doing some of its challenges, and many more are left feeling sad, anxious and depressed by the app’s addictive features,” said Letitia James, the New York attorney general.

The authorities’ legal offensive targets the various algorithms that form the heart of the platform. These feed the inexhaustible “for you” feed that users consume in the form of video and that starts playing as soon as the app is opened. The content is made up of recommendations based on the interests of each TikToker. The lawsuit claims that the feature is addictive and was designed by engineers to increase the hours young people spend inside the app.

The lawsuit claims that the social network has launched a series of products that help keep its audience captive. One of these are the famous filters or effects, which allow people to alter the appearance of photos and videos. “These encourage young people to alter their image and imitate plastic surgery and harbor unrealistic standards of beauty, creating dysmorphic disorders that impact self-esteem and induce negative thoughts about their body image,” says the document, which has much of its content tested.

In response to the lawsuits, TikTok spokesperson Michael Hughes said: “We strongly disagree with these claims, many of which we believe are inaccurate and misleading. We have strived to work with the attorneys general for more than two years, and it is incredibly disappointing that they have taken this action instead of working with us on constructive solutions to the challenges facing the industry.”

TikTok is already accustomed to criticism from legislators and regulators. In Europe, the EU forced TikTok to remove a rewards feature from the Lite version of its app after regulators criticised the “addictive effect” of that particular scheme.

Written by Oscar El Blue

TikTok faces lawsuit from 14 prosecutors for alleged harm to children’s mental health in the US