A coalition of eight American states, including California and Florida, announced on Wednesday the launch of an investigation into the very popular application TikTok, which they accuse of causing harm to children by encouraging them to spend more and more time there. . “Our children are growing up in the age of social media – and many feel the need to test themselves against these filtered versions of reality they see on their screens,” Rob Bonta, California’s attorney general, said in a statement.
“We know this has devastating effects on the mental health and well-being of children. But we don’t know what the companies themselves knew and since when,” he added. The magistrates want to examine the “techniques used by TikTok to encourage young people” to spend more time there, to react to the contents and to interact with the creators, they indicated in a press release also published by Vermont, Tennessee and Nebraska. , among others. This is to “protect children and support parents,” said Vermont Attorney General Thomas Donovan.
The previous Instagram
This investigation follows that carried out by many attorneys general against Meta, the parent company of Facebook, which they accuse of promoting Instagram to the youngest. “Meta has failed to protect young people on its platforms and has instead chosen to ignore and in some cases even reinforce practices that pose a real threat to physical and mental health, thereby exploiting children for make a profit,” Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said at the time.
Prosecutors relied in particular on the revelations in the fall of whistleblower Frances Haugen. According to documents collected by her when she was still working at the company, the social media giant has long been aware, through its own research, of the psychological damage caused by Instagram in children and adolescents.
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