TikTok is once again in legal trouble for its potential impact on the mental and physical health of children, teens, and young adults.
The popular short-video publishing platform is under question by a group of state attorneys general (AG) from California, Florida, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Kentucky, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Vermont to determine if the app’s design, operations, or promotion of content towards younger audiences negatively impacts their mental or physical well-being.
The group of AGs is investigating whether TikTok violated state consumer protection laws.
Ban on Ads for Children
The investigation comes only days after US President Joe Biden, during his State of the Union address, explicitly asked for a ban on targeted advertisement towards children on social media platforms.
One of the leaders of the coalition, Massachusetts AG Maura Healey, commented:
As children and teens already grapple with issues of anxiety, social pressure, and depression, we cannot allow social media to further harm their physical health and mental well-being.
TikTok’s algorithm is designed in such a way that it effectively determines what users see and has proven to be remarkably effective at keeping users engaged for hours. The platform has offered numerous insights into the algorithms’ working.
Purpose of the Investigation
The investigation will look into the potentially harmful effects of using the app and details of what the company knew about them, specifically the techniques and methods used by the company to boost engagement, increase the time spent on the app, as well as the frequency of usage.
TikTok spokesperson, Ben Rathe said:
We care deeply about building an experience that helps to protect and support the well-being of our community, and appreciate that the state attorneys general are focusing on the safety of younger users. We look forward to providing information on the many safety and privacy protections we have for teens.
The current investigation is likely to impact other social media platforms such as Meta or Snapchat that have tried to copy some of the short-form video features when designing and marketing their apps.
The same group of AGs also led an investigation last year, after Facebook’s parent company Meta deliberately ignored internal research and instead focused on the promotion of content via Instagram to younger audiences despite being well aware of its harmful effects.
