Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall says the social media app TikTok doesn’t have nearly enough protections for the children that use it.
Marshall announced Tuesday that the State has filed a lawsuit against social media company TikTok Inc., and its parent company, ByteDance Inc., for exploiting children, addicting them to harmful content, and lying about the safety of its platform.
“Today we join concerned parents across our state to stand up for Alabama’s children. TikTok preys on young people, feeding them dangerous and damaging content while lying to parents about how safe the app really is. This platform was designed to addict kids and put profits ahead of the mental health of an entire generation,” Marshall said. “TikTok’s so-called ‘safety features’ are a joke. They are nothing more than a marketing ploy to trick parents into trusting a product that TikTok knows full well is dangerous. Alabama families deserve the truth, and we will make sure they get it.”
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The lawsuit, filed in Montgomery County Circuit Court, seeks to hold TikTok accountable for fueling a mental health crisis among Alabama’s youth.
The complaint states, “Over one-third of its daily users in the United States are fourteen or younger. TikTok’s capture of the American youth market is no accident but is instead the result of a carefully executed campaign.” It further identifies TikTok being ultimately owned and operated by ByteDance, a Chinese corporation, which since the app’s inception, has focused “on gathering as much data on users as possible.”
The State’s lawsuit explains how TikTok’s algorithm is engineered to keep minors endlessly scrolling and exposing them to content that promotes depression, eating disorders, self-harm, and drug use, as well as dangerous viral “challenges.”
Additionally, the lawsuit reveals that TikTok’s safety measures, such as “Kids Mode” and “Restricted Mode,” are ineffective and easily bypassed, leaving children vulnerable to exploitation and harm, while TikTok does little to block inappropriate adult material.
“We cannot ignore the giant problem with this platform: TikTok is owned by Chinese corporation ByteDance, which mines sensitive American data from the People’s Republic of China, where corporations have a legal obligation to share that data collected with the Chinese national intelligence services,” Marshall said. TikTok and ByteDance are knowingly committing espionage against Americans’ personal information, and they are exploiting our children specifically.”
The lawsuit seeks civil penalties under Alabama’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act, as well as compensatory and punitive damages to the State, and injunctive relief to ensure that the company’s misleading practices pertaining to youth safety are discontinued.
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee
