They accuse the medium of harming the mental health of its young users
Prosecutors 14 American Several states filed a lawsuit against TikTok today, accusing the social media platform of harming the mental health of its young users and collecting personal data without authorization.
They mainly accuse the platform of “using addictive features in order to induce users to stay there for a longer period of time, which has negative effects on their mental health,” according to a joint statement.
Prosecutors cite, among other things, notifications at any time, the systematic succession of videos one after the other or “content that aims to attract attention”.
“We disagree with these claims, many of which we find to be false and misleading,” was the reaction of a representative of TikTok at the French Agency.
The company boasts that it has an “unwavering protection system” for young users and recalls that it has added other barriers, such as the default system for under-16s.
This tool prevents these users from using the messaging system or ensures that the content they post does not appear in an unknown user’s video feed.
The company described as “disappointing” the decision to take legal action “instead of working together for constructive solutions to the challenges posed across the industry”.
In addition to California and New York state, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Louisiana, the District of Columbia, Oregon, South Carolina, the Vermont and Washington state.
Utah, Nebraska, Kansas, New Hampshire, Iowa and Arkansas have already taken similar actions.
