A bipartisan group of attorneys general from over a dozen states, along with Washington, D.C., has initiated legal action against the social media platform TikTok. The lawsuits allege that the app is designed to be addictive for children and negatively affects the mental health of young users. These legal actions follow a national investigation into TikTok, launched in March 2022 by attorneys general from states including New York, California, and the District of Columbia, among others.
A central concern of the lawsuits is TikTok’s algorithm, which personalizes content for users’ feeds. The lawsuits claim that TikTok’s features attract children, leading to addiction through endless scrolling and the use of face filters that create unrealistic appearances. California Attorney General Rob Bonta addressed the issue at a news conference, stating that TikTok targets children because they are less equipped to manage addictive content. The accusations further say that TikTok prolongs user engagement to increase ad targeting opportunities, contributing to mental health struggles among young individuals, according to New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Previously, Instagram’s parent company, Meta Platforms Inc., faced similar lawsuits for allegedly contributing to youth mental health issues. TikTok’s future in the United States is uncertain as new federal regulations could ban the app if its parent company, China-based ByteDance, does not divest its interest by mid-January. TikTok and ByteDance have filed appeals challenging these laws.
The District of Columbia’s lawsuit describes TikTok’s algorithm as “dopamine-inducing” and accuses it of trapping young users in excessive use. The allegations suggest that continued exposure to TikTok’s algorithm could result in psychological and physiological harm, including anxiety and depression.
A TikTok representative refuted these claims, describing them as inaccurate and misleading, while emphasizing the company’s commitment to teen safety and cooperation with state attorneys general. TikTok asserts that it has implemented numerous safety features and proactive measures, such as default screen time limits and family pairing options, to protect young users.
In a related development, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a separate lawsuit against TikTok, accusing it of sharing minors’ personal data without parental consent, in violation of the state’s Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment (SCOPE) Act. This act mandates that digital services do not share or sell a minor’s personal information without parental approval. TikTok maintains that it offers extensive safeguards for teens and families, and disputes the allegations. The lawsuits continue as TikTok challenges these legal issues in court.
