TikTok faces lawsuit from 14 prosecutors for alleged harm to children’s mental health

() – A bipartisan group of 14 attorneys general from across the country filed lawsuits Tuesday against TikTok, alleging that the platform has “addicted” young people and harmed their mental health.

The lawsuits challenge several elements of the TikTok platform, including its endless content feed, TikTok “challenge” videos that sometimes encourage users to engage in risky behavior, and nightly push notifications that attorney generals say , can disturb children’s sleep.

The lawsuits were filed separately by members of the coalition co-led by New York Attorney General Letitia James and California Attorney General Rob Bonta. And they mark just the latest legal pressure facing TikTok, which is also fighting a law that could prohibit it in the United States next year, a lawsuit from the US Department of Justice alleging that the platform illegally collected data from children and various state actions.

In June, New York’s governor also signed a law to regulate social media algorithms; For example, it will require platforms to show content in chronological order to users under 18, which could force TikTok to review how it works. And last month, 42 state prosecutors asked U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy to require social media apps to include labels warning of their potential harm to young users.

“We strongly disagree with these claims, many of which we believe are inaccurate and misleading,” TikTok spokesperson Alex Haurek said in a statement. “We are proud and remain deeply committed to the work we have done to protect teens and will continue to update and improve our product. “We offer strong safeguards, proactively remove suspicious underage users, and have voluntarily released security features.”

TikTok, for its part, has repeatedly said that it believes its platform is safe for children and that it offers safety features such as default screen time limits for young users and optional parental supervision tools.

Haurek added that TikTok “has strived to work with the attorneys general for more than two years and it is incredibly disappointing that they took this action instead of working with us on constructive solutions to industry-wide challenges.”

However, the group of states involved in Tuesday’s action claim that TikTok is not doing enough.

“TikTok’s underlying business model focuses on maximizing the time young users spend on the platform so the company can increase revenue by selling targeted ads,” prosecutors said in a statement. “TikTok uses an addictive content recommendation system designed to keep minors on the platform as long as possible and as often as possible, despite the dangers of compulsive use.”

The complaint filed by James alleges that TikTok “knows that the compulsive use and other harmful effects of its platform are wreaking havoc on the mental health of millions of American children and teenagers.” It also states that “TikTok considers users under the age of 13 to be a critical demographic,” despite saying it only allows users 13 and older on the platform. The complaint refers to internal TikTok documents, although it is heavily redacted.

James alleges that the platform’s focus on “profit over safety has made TikTok extremely profitable,” noting that TikTok’s U.S. revenue in 2023 reached $16 billion, according to the complaint. The complaint also cites a study from Harvard that claims TikTok earned $2 billion in ad revenue in 2022 from American teens ages 13 to 17.

TikTok’s so-called beauty filters, which manipulate users’ images often making them appear thinner or as if they are wearing makeup, can “encourage negative and unhealthy social comparison, body image issues, and related mental and physical health disorders.” ” with creating “an impossible standard” for teenagers, the complaint alleges.

It also alleges that TikTok “challenges” — viral trends in which users attempt to replicate videos created by others — can encourage dangerous behavior among young users. Earlier this year, a teenager died in Brooklyn while riding on the outside of a subway train, a maneuver known as “subway surfing,” and his mother later “found videos promoting subway surfing in a challenge on her TikTok account,” the complaint states. TikTok previously cooperated with New York authorities to remove surfing content on the subway, the New York Times reported in January.

James’ complaint also accuses TikTok of violating the U.S. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (known as “COPPA”) by failing to prevent children under 13 from joining the app and collecting their personal information. without parental consent. It states that TikTok claims that the platform is not for children under 13, but that it “features themes, characters, activities, music and other content aimed at children, as well as advertisements directed at children.”

“By maximizing the addictive properties of the TikTok platform, TikTok has cultivated a generation of young users who spend hours a day on its platform, more than they would otherwise choose, which is very detrimental to adolescent development and ability to care for his personal needs and responsibilities,” James’ complaint states.

The lawsuit seeks financial sanctions against TikTok, including a requirement that the platform return profits it received from ads targeting New York teens or pre-teens.

Following prosecutors’ demands, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a report which highlights how pervasive social media is in the lives of American teenagers and how significantly it is linked to mental health.

More than 3 in 4 high school students are online frequently and use social media several times a day, according to data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. And about 30% of high school students access social media more than once an hour.

Students who reported frequent social media use were more likely to have significant negative experiences and emotions than those who used social media less frequently.

About 43% of high school students who use social media frequently said they felt persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, compared to 32% of those who used social media less frequently. They were also more likely to say they had been victims of bullying, both at school and online, and had seriously considered suicide.

The survey also found that teenage girls are more likely than boys to report poor mental health and more likely to say they use social media frequently.

The Youth Risk Behavior Survey has been conducted by the CDC for more than three decades as a way to measure the well-being of American high school students. The latest report, with data through 2023, captures responses from more than 20,000 students in grades nine through 12 from a nationally representative sample of 155 schools.

‘s Matt Egan contributed to this report.