States sue TikTok, alleging harm to children’s mental health

The attorneys general from 13 states and the District of Columbia on Tuesday filed independent lawsuits in state courts against the social media platform. The lawsuits accuse TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, of intentionally designing its platform to be addictive and harmful to young people. Officials also allege the company was aware that youth who used the platform regularly were at risk of experiencing an array of psychological symptoms, including disrupted sleep, depression, and anxiety. The lawsuits claim TikTok deceptively insisted its platform was safe and failed to implement design changes to reduce compulsive use. The complaints followed a national investigation into TikTok’s effect on the well-being of young people.

What other lawsuits is TikTok facing? The U.S. Justice Department in August sued TikTok over violations of children’s privacy laws. That lawsuit claims the platform and ByteDance knowingly collected data and personal information from children under the age of 13. Last week, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the company for violating a state law prohibiting social media companies from sharing or selling a minor’s personal information without parental approval.

Dig deeper: Listen to Brad Littlejohn’s report on The World and Everything in It about holding social media companies accountable.