Attorney General of Minnesota Sues TikTok Over Addictive Features
On Tuesday, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) filed a lawsuit against TikTok, criticizing the video-sharing app for exploiting young users through its addictive algorithms and design elements.
Ellison contends that social media companies are motivated primarily by profit, aiming to keep young users engaged with features like recommendation engines, endless scrolling, and other attention-grabbing tools. He emphasized that these strategies are designed to maximize engagement.
“If you don’t know anything else about TikTok, you know it’s very addictive,” he remarked. According to him, an array of research conducted by his office highlighted that addiction stemmed from strategic decisions made by TikTok’s leadership to enhance profitability.
“In simple terms, TikTok hooks users on the app, which boosts revenue, but this leads to negative mental health impacts for many users,” he stated. “This situation isn’t just immoral; it’s illegal.”
The lawsuit specifically targets TikTok’s live features and its virtual coin system. While the app’s monetization strategies are technically restricted to adults, Ellison argues that its age verification process is ineffective and too lenient.
This means TikTok is profiting from young users who don’t fully understand the complexities of its cryptocurrency features. Moreover, he claims the app “deceives” users into believing it is “safer for children.”
Ellison’s legal action accuses TikTok of breaching Minnesota laws related to deceptive trade practices, consumer fraud, and remittances.
In response, TikTok rebuffed these allegations and pointed out its safety features aimed at children and their parents, such as enhanced restrictions on teenage accounts and family pairing tools that let parents manage their children’s privacy settings.
“The lawsuit relies on misleading and inaccurate claims about TikTok’s ability to recognize the strong safety measures we have voluntarily implemented for the well-being of our community,” a spokesperson for the company stated.
This lawsuit arises amidst renewed scrutiny on tech companies regarding the impact of their products on children.
Recently, Meta faced backlash after reports revealed that its internal documents suggested AI chatbots could engage in “romantic or sensual” conversations with minors. The company described it as an error, promptly removing the problematic language.
Additionally, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Maril (R) filed a lawsuit against Roblox last Thursday, asserting that the widely-used gaming platform failed to enforce adequate protections against adult predators. Roblox dismissed the allegations, calling them “mistakes.”
