TikTok sued by 14 attorneys general for alleged harm to children’s mental health

new York CNN — A bipartisan group of 14 attorneys general from across the country filed lawsuits against TikTok on Tuesday, alleging the platform is making young people “addicted” and harming their mental health.

The lawsuits challenge various elements of the TikTok platform, including its endless scrolling content feed, TikTok “challenge” videos that sometimes encourage users to engage in risky behavior, and late-night push notifications that, according to attorneys general, can disrupt 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 it’s just the latest legal pressure facing TikTok, which is also fighting a law that could see it banned in the United States as early as next year, against a lawsuit from the US Department of Justice alleging that the platform illegally collected data on children and against several state actions. .

In June, New York’s governor also signed into law a bill to regulate social media algorithms; for example, it will force platforms to display content in chronological order to users under 18, which could force TikTok to review how it works. And last month, 42 state attorneys general asked U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy to require social media apps to be marked with 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 of and remain deeply committed to the work we have done to protect adolescents and will continue to update and improve our product. We provide robust safeguards, proactively remove suspected underage users, and have voluntarily launched security features.

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

Haurek added that TikTok “has strived to work with the attorneys general for over two years, and it is incredibly disappointing that they have taken this action rather than working with us on constructive solutions to the industry’s challenges.” “.

However, the group of states involved in Tuesday’s action say TikTok isn’t doing enough.

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

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

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

TikTok’s so-called beauty filters — which manipulate users’ images, often making them appear thinner or as if they have makeup on — can “encourage unhealthy and negative social comparisons, body image issues, and associated mental and physical health disorders” by creating “an impossible standard” for adolescents, the complaint claims.

It also alleges that TikTok “challenges,” meaning viral trends where users attempt to replicate videos created by others, may encourage dangerous behavior among young users. Earlier this year, a teenager died in Brooklyn while riding off a subway train, a stunt known as “subway surfing,” and his mother later “found videos promoting subway surfing during a challenge on his TikTok account,” the complaint states. TikTok has already cooperated with New York authorities to remove subway surfing content, 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 the age of 13 from joining. the application and collect their personal information without the consent of their parents. It says TikTok claims the platform is not intended for children under 13, but that it “features topics, characters, activities, music and other content aimed at children, as well as advertisements aimed at children.

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

The lawsuit seeks financial penalties against TikTok, including requiring the platform to repay all profits it received from ads aimed at teens or pre-teens in New York.

On the heels of lawsuits filed by attorneys general, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report highlighting how pervasive social media is in the lives of American teens and how it is linked to mental health.

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

Students who reported using social media frequently were more likely to experience significant negative experiences and emotions than those who used it less often.

About 43 percent of high school students who use social media frequently reported experiencing persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, compared to 32 percent of those who used social media less often. They were also more likely to report being bullied, both at school and online, and to have seriously considered suicide.

The survey also found that adolescent girls are more likely than boys to report poor mental health and more likely to report that 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 America’s high school students. The latest report, with data through 2023, collects responses from more than 20,000 students in grades 9-12 from a nationally representative sample of 155 schools.

CNN’s Matt Egan contributed to this report.