13 states sue TikTok for operating like a ‘virtual strip club' for kids
TikTok responds to a lawsuit filed on Tuesday by over a dozen US state attorneys general accusing the Chinese-owned video platform of harming children by promoting excessive, compulsive, and addictive use – one state even comparing the app to "a virtual strip club" for kids.
Image by Mike Blake | Reuters
TikTok has responded to a lawsuit by over a dozen US state attorneys general accusing the Chinese-owned video platform of harming children by promoting excessive, compulsive, and addictive use – one state even comparing the app to "a virtual strip club" for kids.
Spearheaded by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and New York Attorney General Letitia James, the lawsuits were filed separately by 13 AG offices and the District of Columbia for violations of state consumer protection laws.
“TikTok exploits and harms young users and deceives the public about the social media platform’s dangers. The action seeks significant penalties, as well as injunctive and monetary relief, to address TikTok’s misconduct,” Bonta’s office stated in Tuesday’s joint press release.
The majority of lawsuits singled out TikTok’s underlying business model as one that focuses on maximizing a user’s time with the sole purpose of selling more advertising on the platform.
The AGs provided a slew of examples, from its content-recommendation algorithms and use of manipulative features to deceptive marketing that promotes a public narrative of safety to the exploitation of children's data without parental notification or consent, which is against federal law for ages 13 and under.
TikTok use is pervasive among US teens, with more than 60% ages 13 to 17 admitting to using the app, according to a 2023 Pew Research poll.
Of those surveyed, most of the teenagers said they used the app daily, while 17% of them reported they were on TikTok “almost constantly.”
“TikTok cultivates social media addiction to boost corporate profits, intentionally targeting children because they do not yet have the defenses or capacity to create healthy boundaries around addictive content,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta.
“TikTok must be held accountable for taking away the time – and childhoods – of American children,” he charged.
“When we look at the youth mental health crisis and the revenue machine TikTok has created, it’s devastatingly obvious: Our children and teens never stood a chance against these social media behemoths,” Bonta said.
Join me at 9:45 AM for an important announcement on California’s efforts to protect children online.
undefined Rob Bonta (@AGRobBonta) October 8, 2024
Tune in at: https://t.co/biszIi59EV pic.twitter.com/OEx4si8lgV
Sexual exploitation of underage users
The bevy of lawsuits aims to protect young people in the US from mental health issues associated with TikTok’s “manipulative features” – which are said to exploit children's psychological vulnerabilities and keep them on the app longer.
“TikTok claims that their platform is safe for young people, but that is far from true,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James.
“Young people have died or gotten injured doing dangerous TikTok challenges,” James said, adding that many more are “sad, anxious, and depressed” due to its addictive features and that "77% of young girls try to change or hide their bodies" with TikTok filters.
Court documents from Washington state even compared TikTok’s livestreaming and blatant sexual exploitation of underage users to "operating a virtual strip club with no age restrictions.”
California's announcement laid out a list of six specific features designed to influence and capture a teenager's undivided attention and why they're harmful:
- Beauty Filters – Foster unrealistic beauty standards. Contribute to low self-esteem, negative body image, and related physical and mental disorders.
- Autoplay – Continuously plays new and temporary posts. Can not be disabled, taking away a user's autonomy. Exploits novelty-seeking minds.
- Endless/infinite scroll – Makes it difficult to disengage. Distorts users’ perception of time.
- TikTok Stories and TikTok Live – Time-sensitive and temporary. Exploits users fear of missing out if they do not tune in immediately.
- Push notifications – Entices users to return to the platform by overloading and overwhelming them with alerts. Uses fake notifications to bait users into opening TikTok.
- Likes and comments – Form of social validation. TikTok’s design and display of highlighting “likes” is especially powerful and can neurologically alter teenagers’ perception of online posts, in addition to driving compulsive use.
The proliferation of beauty filters hurt our kids. 77% of young girls try to change or hide their body with these filters.
undefined NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) October 8, 2024
Kids have been seriously injured and even died because of TikTok “challenges” promoted on the app.
Nonstop notifications keep kids on TikTok day and night.
TikTok calls charges "misleading"
In a statement released Tuesday, TikTok spokesperson Alex Haurek said the ByteDance-owned company strongly disagreed with the charges, labeling them “inaccurate and misleading."
"We provide robust safeguards, proactively remove suspected underage users, and have voluntarily launched safety features such as default screentime limits, family pairing, and privacy by default for minors under 16," Haurek said.
Haurek further stated that after two years of negotiating with the attorneys general offices, "it is incredibly disappointing they have taken this step rather than work with us on constructive solutions to industrywide challenges."
Besides California and New York, the states of Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia are also involved in the mass of enforcement actions filed on Tuesday.
On October 3rd, the Texas Attorney General's office also filed suit against TikTok for state child privacy violations, specifically focused on claims the app shares kids' private data without parental consent.
According to Tuesday’s announcement, 23 state attorneys generals, including Utah, Nevada, Indiana, New Hampshire, Nebraska, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, and Texas, have taken action against TikTok for its misconduct against youth, based on the recent filings.
TikTok is already battling the White House in court, attempting to block a law passed this spring that would ban the social media app from operating in the US unless its parent company, the Chinese-owned ByteDance, divests from the platform.