More than a dozen states and the District of Columbia filed lawsuits against TikTok on Tuesday, alleging the popular short-form video app is harming youth mental health by designing its platform to be addictive to kids. The lawsuits stem from a national investigation into TikTok, launched in March 2022 by a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general from states including California, Kentucky, and New Jersey. The complaints were filed in state courts, reports the AP. At the heart of each lawsuit is the TikTok algorithm, which powers what users see by populating the "For You" feed with content tailored to people's interests. The lawsuits also emphasize features that they say make children addicted, such as the ability to scroll endlessly through content, push notifications that come with built-in "buzzes," and face filters that create unattainable appearances for users.
The District of Columbia called the algorithm "dopamine-inducing" and said it was created to be intentionally addictive so TikTok could keep young users on its app for hours. TikTok does this despite knowing that these behaviors will lead to "profound psychological and physiological harms," such as anxiety, depression, body dysmorphia, and other long-lasting problems, the complaint said. Keeping people on the platform is "how they generate massive ad revenue," DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb said. "But unfortunately, that's also how they generate adverse mental health impacts on the users." TikTok doesn't allow children under 13 to sign up for its main service and restricts some content for everyone under 18. But several states said in their filing that children can easily bypass those restrictions.
The district alleges TikTok is operating as an "unlicensed virtual economy" by allowing people to purchase TikTok Coins—a virtual currency within the platform—and send "Gifts" to streamers on TikTok LIVE who can cash it out for real money. TikTok takes a 50% commission on these financial transactions but hasn't registered as a money transmitter with the Treasury Department or the district. Officials say teens are frequently exploited for sexually explicit content through TikTok's LIVE streaming feature, which has allowed the app to operate essentially as a "virtual strip club" without age restrictions. They say the cut the company gets from the financial transactions allows it to profit from exploitation.
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