The TikTok platform is facing new adventures of justice. In particular, new lawsuits were filed on Tuesday by 13 US states and the District of Columbia, which accuse the popular platform of harming young people while failing to protect them.
The problem seems to be that the company is deliberately using addictive software to maximize the time users spend on the app. In particular, according to the statement that the states issued jointly, the platform “uses addictive features in order to push users to stay active for a longer period of time, which has negative effects on their mental health.”
State Attorneys General say the platform is deliberately targeting the underage because they haven’t yet developed defenses to create healthy boundaries around addictive content. Officials specifically mention, among other things, notifications at any time, the systematic succession of videos one after the other or “content that aims to attract attention”. In fact, they argue that this policy of the company is only aimed at increasing its revenues, while it overlooks the mental health problems it creates for children.
“We disagree with these claims, many of which we find to be false and misleading”, was the reaction of a representative of TikTok to Reuters, while he thought that the States in question would be better off cooperating with them if they have this view, instead of take action, as they did.
In addition, the company clarified that the platform provides security features, including default viewing time limits and privacy settings for minors under 16.
A virtual strip club without age restrictions
While the company finds the stance “disappointing” as it boasts of protecting minors, Washington’s lawsuit specifically accuses TikTok of facilitating the sexual exploitation of underage users, saying live streaming in combined with the platform’s virtual currency “act as a virtual strip mall without age restrictions”.
What are the states?
In addition to New York State, California, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Louisiana, the District of Columbia, Oregon, South Carolina, the Vermont and Washington state. Utah, Nebraska, Kansas, New Hampshire, Iowa and Arkansas have already taken similar actions.
*Source: Reuters
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