A bipartisan group of 14 attorneys general have filed a lawsuit against the giant TikTok, alleging that it misled the public about the safety of its platform and harmed the mental health of young people.
TikTok sued by 13 US states and DC, accused of harming young users
The lawsuits, filed separately by each member of the coalition, allege that the wildly popular video platform violated state law by falsely claiming that the platform is safe for young people. TikTok in a statement today called many of the claims "false and misleading."
The action, co-led by New York Attorney General Letitia James and California Attorney General Rob Bonta, says many young users are struggling with poor mental health and body image issues because of the platform’s addictive features and are being injured, hospitalized or killed because of TikTok challenges (viral videos that encourage users to perform certain activities) created and promoted on the platform. The attorneys general are seeking “civil penalties, punitive damages and an injunction.”
The New York lawsuit seeks to “redress TikTok’s past and present fraudulent, deceptive, and unlawful practices … and to hold TikTok accountable for the harm it has caused New York’s youngest children by falsely promoting and marketing its addictive and otherwise harmful mobile social media app and website in this state.” It said that depression, anxiety, eating disorders and suicidal ideation “have all reached record levels among children in New York and elsewhere” and “a growing body of evidence isolates addictive social media as a leading driver of the youth mental health crisis.”
