TikTok Sued After NY AG Tish James Says Algorithm Is Poisoning Kids’ Minds — And Inspiring Dangerous Viral Challenges

TikTok’s algorithms are poisoning children’s mental health — and even leading to deaths from viral social media challenges, an explosive lawsuit filed Tuesday by state Attorney General Letitia James said.

James’ legal action comes alongside 14 other states that filed lawsuits as a coalition against the embattled social media company, which is accused of failing to protect children from its endless “addictive” spin and violating antitrust laws. data privacy.

“In New York and across the country, young people have died or been injured doing dangerous TikTok challenges, and many others are feeling sadder, more anxious and depressed because of the addictive nature of TikTok,” James said. in a notification.

“Children and families across the country are desperate for help to address this crisis, and we are doing everything in our power to protect them.”

The coalition is demanding that the company stop its “harmful” tactics and pay financial penalties, including profits from the alleged fraudulent practices. James and other state AGs are also seeking to collect damages for users, according to a statement.

TikTok’s parent company – China-based ByteDance – bases its business model on the “problematic nature of social media apps” and aims to keep its youngest users glued to their screens – despite past claims that the social media giant protects minor users, the suit said.

“Adolescent overuse” is part of the app’s design, the suit claims, and results in “increased rates of major depressive and anxiety episodes, body image and eating disorders, sleep disturbances, loneliness, ideas for suicide and attempted suicide”.

Internal data cited in the filing says the company “considers users under the age of 13 to be a critical demographic,” and as a result, TikTok made conscious decisions to manipulate young minds to spend as much time on the app as possible. lawsuit claims.

Much of the internal information from the company was redacted in the complaint filed.

Specific elements of the app, including personalized algorithmic feed, auto-play video and endless scrolling, make it harder for young users in particular to break out of dopamine-enhanced feedback loops, the lawsuit says.

Pushing ephemeral live content furthered TikTok’s mission to attract new users by “exploiting new users’ unique sensitivity to ‘fear of missing out’ (FOMO).”

Other “coercive design” decisions, which emphasize “social valuations and quantification metrics,” have “a particularly powerful effect on teenagers.”

“By maximizing the problematic features of the TikTok platform, TikTok has cultivated a generation of young users who spend hours a day on its platform – more than they would otherwise choose – which is highly detrimental to teenagers’ development and ability to respond to personal needs and responsibilities,” the lawsuit states.

TikTok’s “beauty filters” features actively harm young people by “perpetuating certain beauty stereotypes” and “encouraging eating disorders, body dysmorphia and related issues,” according to the lawsuit.

The platform also inspires young people to try dangerous — even deadly — “challenges,” the lawsuit alleges.

“Many teenage users have injured or even killed themselves or others participating in viral pranks to get rewards and increase their ‘Likes’, views and followers, a predictable consequence of the engagement-maximizing design of TikTok,” the lawsuit states.

Several high-profile incidents are cited as examples, including a subway death in 2023 and the viral wave of Kia thefts.

But rather than dangerous diversions, such videos “are a cornerstone of the platform and are among the most popular videos on the platform,” according to the lawsuit.

The anti-TiKTok coalition is led by James and California Attorney General Rob Bonta and includes Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Vermont, Washington and the District of Columbia.

All the while, TikTok’s US revenue is set to hit $16 billion by 2023 — with studies claiming roughly 35% of ad revenue comes from minors on the app, even though the company has said the app isn’t for kids under 13 years old.

ByteDance is fighting a proposed US law that would ban the app in the country.