Fourteen state prosecutors USA They sued the Chinese video social network this Tuesday TikTok for being harmful to children’s mental health and accused her of using an addictive content system to profit from younger users.
Prosecutors, both Democrats and Republicans, went to the courts of their respective jurisdictions on Tuesday and argued that TikTok is violating consumer protection laws and misleading the public by declaring that its platform is safe for minors.
Last year, a broader coalition, then numbering 41 prosecutors, sued on similar grounds Metathe owner of the networks Instagram, Whatsapp y Facebookarguing that they are addictive for children and adolescents, and that they harm their mental health.
How does TikTok affect mental health according to the lawsuit?
The Attorney General of New York, Letitia Jamesnoted in a statement that throughout the country “young people have died or been seriously injured doing dangerous challenges of TikTok and many more feel more sad, anxious and depressed due to the addictive functions of TikTok”.
Among the addictive functions that prosecutors denounce are “autoplay”, which automatically plays videos and “manipulates users to compulsively spend more time” on TikTokor temporary content that “incites” you to connect or miss an opportunity to interact.
They also point out “beauty filters” that can lower self-esteem, especially among minors, and cite studies according to which 50% do not look pretty without editing their faces and 77% say they try to change or hide some part of their appearance. body with that function.
In the note, the California prosecutor, Rob Bontaadded that his investigation of TikTok reveals that the network “cultivates social media addiction to drive corporate profits” and targets children because “it knows they don’t have the defenses or ability to create healthy boundaries.”
Apart from that, the lawsuit claims that TikTok is violating child data protection laws by collecting and monetizing data from children under 13, citing researchers’ estimates that “35% of advertising revenue from TikTok in EU “It is derived from children and adolescents.”
A change is sought and payment to those affected
The objective, indicates the statement, is that TikTok “change its harmful functions” and stop using childish “exploitation tactics”, and also requires imposing fines, including the return of “fraudulent” profits and the payment of compensation to harmed users.
The lawsuit also accuses TikTok to lie by saying that it operates independently of its Chinese parent company, Bytedanceand that is not subject to influence from the Chinese Government. EFE
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