TikTok designed to be addictive to kids, causes them harm: U.S. States' lawsuits

States file lawsuits against TikTok for harming children's mental health, alleging addictive features and exploitation of minors.

More than a dozen States and the District of Columbia filed lawsuits against TikTok on Tuesday (October 8, 2024), saying that the popular short-form video app is designed to be addictive to kids and harms their mental health.

The lawsuits stem from a national investigation into TikTok, which was launched in March 2022 by a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general from many States, including New York, California, Kentucky, and New Jersey. All of the complaints were filed in State courts.

At the heart of each lawsuit is the TikTok algorithm, which powers what users see on the platform by populating the app's main “For You” feed with content tailored to people's interests. The lawsuits note TikTok design features that they say addict children to the platform, 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.

“They've chosen profit over the health and safety, well-being and future of our children," California Attorney General Rob Bonta said at a news conference in San Francisco. "And that is not something we can accept. So we've sued.” The latest lawsuits come nearly a year after dozens of states sued Instagram parent Meta Platforms Inc. in state and federal courts for harming young people and contributing to the youth mental health crisis by knowingly and deliberately designing addictive features that keep kids hooked on their platforms.

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Keeping people on the platform is “how they generate massive ad revenue”, District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb said in an interview. “But unfortunately, that's also how they generate adverse mental health impacts on the users.”

The legal challenges, which also include Google's YouTube, are part of a growing reckoning against social media companies and their effects on young people's lives. In some cases, the challenges have been coordinated in a way that resembles how states previously organised against the tobacco and pharmaceutical industries.