The popular video-sharing app is in hot water as lawsuits against TikTok have been filed by 13 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. In the complaints, which were filed on Tuesday, TikTok was accused of intentionally creating an addictive environment for children, adding to such mental health problems as anxiety, depression, and body dysmorphia.
The suit is part of a broader national investigation that began in March 2022; it was headed up by a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general representing states such as California, Kentucky, and New Jersey. TikTok’s powerful algorithm is at the core of the complaints: the content on users’ “For You” feeds. Critics say features such as endless scrolling, push notifications, and face filters rank among those designed to hook young users for hours.
The District of Columbia has called the algorithm “dopamine-inducing” and said it exploits kids’ psychological vulnerabilities to rack up ad dollars. In general, the complaints say TikTok makes money off its addictive qualities while being informed that its algorithm is harming teenagers’ mental health.
TikTok has rules that bar users under 13 from using the app, but the complaints indicate that such precautions are trivially easy to bypass, allowing kids to get full access to the site.
Other complaints suggest that TikTok runs what appears to be an “unlicensed virtual economy,” letting users buy virtual currencies, such as TikTok Coins, and send “Gifts” to streamers who can then convert those into real money. The complaints claim TikTok captures a 50% cut of those transactions while not being registered as a licensed money transmitter.
There have also been concerns about TikTok’s LIVE streaming feature, which some reports indicate has been used to exploit teenagers into creating sexually explicit content, from which the platform directly profits.
The new complaint is part of a mounting effort to sue big social media companies, with TikTok at the forefront. Over the past couple of years, various states have filed lawsuits against companies like Meta and YouTube on the grounds of violating youngsters’ mental health or exposing them to improper content.
Just last week, Texas filed a suit against TikTok over mishandling minors’ personal information. At the same time, the U.S. Department of Justice has initiated its own federal lawsuit on very similar grounds regarding how the popular app handles sensitive data.
With lawsuits mounting, TikTok also faces a national ban in the U.S. unless its parent company, ByteDance, divests ownership by mid-January 2024. TikTok and ByteDance have filed an appeal of that decision to the federal appeals court; a ruling is expected any day, but it may be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
This newest wave of lawsuits may signal an important chapter in a debate that has continued to balloon over TikTok’s influence and the toll it is exacting on younger users’ mental health.
