An Arkansas mother is suing the popular Chinese app TikTok after her son’s death, saying on the Chinese social media platform that “if she hadn’t seen that video, she would still be alive today.”
“I truly believe that if Mason hadn’t seen that TikTok video, he would still be alive today,” said Jenny DeSerio, who lost her 16-year-old son Mason Edens to suicide in November 2022. Said NBC News.
DeSerio said Mason’s suicide was facilitated by TikTok’s algorithm, which promoted pro-suicide content after her son went through a bad breakup.
Mason’s mother said her son had liked dozens of graphic TikTok videos about breakups, depression and suicide shortly before his death. DeSerio added that he found at least 15 videos that directly promoted suicide that Mason liked, five of which specifically encouraged the methods Mason used.
More than a year later, some of these pro-suicide videos still exist on Chinese platforms, NBC reports.
DeSerio is now reportedly joining a lawsuit involving eight other grieving parents who are jointly claiming that multiple social media companies had product defects that led to the deaths of their children. ing.
The suit alleges that the Chinese app targeted Mason with videos encouraging suicide and self-harm.
“TikTok used AI-driven, feed-based tools to target Mason,” the complaint states. “It collected his personal information without his knowledge or consent and in a manner far beyond what a reasonable consumer would expect or tolerate.”
“They then used such personal data to target him with extreme and deadly subject matter, including encouragement of violence, self-harm, and suicide,” the lawsuit adds.
NBC noted that at least four other lawsuits have been filed against TikTok and other social media companies.
Two tribal nations reportedly filed a lawsuit against TikTok, Meta, Snap, and Google in separate lawsuits filed this month, claiming that these social media platforms are addictive and dangerous, and that Native American A lawsuit has reportedly been filed alleging that it is linked to rising suicide rates.
Suicide, in particular, is a complex issue, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stating that suicide is “rarely caused by a single situation or event.”
“Rather, a variety of factors at the individual, relationship, community, and societal levels can increase risk. These risk factors are situations and issues that can make a person more likely to attempt suicide. ” the CDC said in its report. Website.
Nevertheless, TikTok has already shown itself to be dangerous to children and teens in a variety of other ways.
Meanwhile, TikTok (whose ByteDance parent company is beholden to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)) is widely considered a national security threat by U.S. lawmakers, who recently ordered ByteDance to sell the app within a year. A bill was passed that would prohibit it if it was not sold. US.
President Joe Biden signed the bill Wednesday.
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