Video-sharing platform Tiktok is in hot water as it faces lawsuits filed by 13 states in America over allegations of fostering anxiety and depression among youth.
The bipartisan attorneys general all over the United States claimed the platform’s “addictive features” cause a fixation in young people, and that it deliberately presents itself as harmless, even with extended use, despite adverse effects.
Tiktok found this “disappointing,” claiming the lawsuit’s claims were “inaccurate and misleading.”
“TikTok knows that compulsive use of and other harmful effects of its platform are wreaking havoc on the mental health of millions of American children and teenagers,” reads a statement from the lawsuit filed on Tuesday. “Despite such documented knowledge, TikTok continually misrepresents its platform as ‘safe’ (and) ‘appropriate for children and teenagers.’”
Incidents of injury and fatalities stemming from Tiktok “challenges” were raised by New York Attorney General Letitia James, apart from prevalent cases of increased sadness, anxiety, and depression “because of TikTok’s addictive features.”
She recounted that a 15-year-old had died riding atop a moving train car; his mother found videos of this “subway surfing” on his phone.
The author of a huffpost editorial wrote about losing her son to the “blackout challenge,” which encourages participants to asphyxiate or choke themselves. The son was revived but pronounced brain dead, and died a week later. The “Tide pod challenge” had participants bite into laundry detergent pods. Ingesting these would lead to severe poisoning, respiratory distress, and hospitalization.
“TikTok claims that their platform is safe for young people, but that is far from true,” James stated.
Among the lawsuit’s complaints were alerts which disturb sleep, vanishing videos which compel users to frequent the platform, and beauty filters. Although Tiktok has pushed for the use of screen time-limiting tools or resetting provided content, it has given a false idea of the efficacy of these measures.
The lawsuit seeks to prohibit such practices and monetary penalties.
“We strongly disagree with these claims, many of which we believe to be inaccurate and misleading. We're proud of and remain deeply committed to the work we've done to protect teens and we will continue to update and improve our product,” Tiktok said in a statement released Tuesday.
Similar cases have been lodged against Facebook and Instagram. It is estimated, however, that half of American teens get on Tiktok multiple times daily.
Currently, Tiktok is also battling a law passed by Congress that would impose a ban on the platform, unless ByteDance would relent to a sale.
