TikTok faces a new lawsuit filed Tuesday by 13 states and the District of Columbia, accusing the popular social media platform of harming young people and failing to protect them.
Separate lawsuits filed in New York, California, the District of Columbia and 11 other states extend Chinese-owned TikTok's legal battle with regulators and seek new financial penalties against the company.
States accuse TikTok of using intentionally addictive software designed to keep children watching as long and as often as possible, and of misrepresenting the effectiveness of its content moderation. .
“TikTok fuels social media addiction to increase corporate profits,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. “TikTok intentionally targets children because they know that children do not yet have the defenses or ability to create healthy boundaries against addictive content. is.”
State officials say TikTok aims to maximize the time users spend on the app in order to target them with ads.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James said, “Young people are suffering from mental health problems due to addictive social media platforms like TikTok.”
TikTok last week strongly disputed claims that it was not protecting children, saying, “In fact, we provide strong protections for teens and their parents.”
Washington, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb alleged that TikTok operates an unauthorized money transfer business through its livestreaming and virtual currency capabilities.
“TikTok's platform is dangerous by design. It's an intentionally addictive product designed to keep young people hooked to their screens,” Schwalb said in an interview.
A Washington state lawsuit accuses TikTok of facilitating sexual exploitation of underage users, saying its livestreaming and cryptocurrency “operate like a virtual strip club with no age restrictions.” .
Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Vermont and Washington also filed suit Tuesday.
In March 2022, eight states, including California and Massachusetts, announced they were launching a national investigation into TikTok's impact on young people.
In August, the Department of Justice sued TikTok for failing to protect children's privacy on the app. Other states, including Utah and Texas, have previously sued TikTok for failing to protect children from harm. TikTok rejected the allegations in a court filing Monday.
TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance is fighting a U.S. law that could ban the app in the United States.
