TikTok accused of profiting from addicted teens and being a ‘virtual strip club’

New York: More than a dozen US states, including New York and California, have filed lawsuits against TikTok, alleging the popular short-form video app is harming youth mental health by designing its platform to be addictive to kids.

The lawsuits stem from a national investigation into TikTok launched in March 2022 by a bipartisan coalition of attorneys-general from many states, including California, Kentucky and New Jersey. All the complaints were filed in state courts.

TikTok is one of the fastest growing platforms in the world.Credit: Getty

At the heart of each lawsuit is the TikTok algorithm, which powers what users see on the platform by populating the app’s main “For You” feed with content tailored to people’s interests. The lawsuits emphasise design features that they say make children addicted to the platform, such as the ability to scroll endlessly through content, push notifications that come with built-in “buzzes” and face filters that create unattainable appearances for users.

In its filings, the District of Columbia called the algorithm “dopamine-inducing” and said it was created to be intentionally addictive so the company could trap many young users into excessive use and keep them on its app for hours on end. TikTok does this despite knowing that these behaviours will lead to “profound psychological and physiological harms” such as anxiety, depression, body dysmorphia and other long-lasting problems, the complaint said.

“It is profiting off the fact that it’s addicting young people to its platform,” District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb said in an interview.

Keeping people on the platform is “how they generate massive ad revenue,” Schwalb said. “But unfortunately, that’s also how they generate adverse mental health impacts on the users.”

TikTok does not allow children under 13 to sign up for its main service and restricts some content for everyone under 18. But Washington and several other states said in their filing that children can easily bypass those restrictions, allowing them to access the service adults use despite the company’s claims that its platform is safe for children.

Their lawsuit also takes aim at other parts of the company’s business.

The district alleges TikTok is operating as an “unlicensed virtual economy” by allowing people to purchase TikTok Coins – a virtual currency within the platform – and send “Gifts” to streamers on TikTok LIVE who can cash it out for real money. TikTok takes a 50 per cent commission on these financial transactions but hasn’t registered as a money transmitter with the US Treasury Department or authorities in the district, according to the complaint.

Officials say teens are frequently exploited for sexually explicit content through TikTok’s LIVE streaming feature, which has allowed the app to operate essentially as a “virtual strip club” without any age restrictions. They say the cut the company gets from the financial transactions allows it to profit from exploitation.

Many states have filed lawsuits against TikTok and other tech companies over the past few years as a reckoning grows against prominent social media platforms and their ever-growing impact on young people’s lives.

AP