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On Tuesday, fourteen US state attorneys filed a lawsuit against Chinese video social network TikTok for harming children’s mental health and accused it of using an addictive content system to profit from young users.

Prosecutors, both Democrats and Republicans, On Tuesday, they approached the courts in their respective jurisdictions and said TikTok is violating consumer protection laws and deceiving the public by claiming its platform is safe for minors.

Last year, a broader coalition that then included 41 prosecutorssued for the same reasons as Metaowner of the Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook networks, claiming that they are addictive in children and adolescents and harm their mental health.

New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement that across the country, “young people have died or been seriously injured doing dangerous TikTok challenges, and many more are feeling sadder, more anxious and depressed because of TikTok’s addictive features.” .

Among the addictive features prosecutors are condemning are “autoplay” that automatically plays videos and “manipulates users into spending more time” on TikTok, or temporary content that “encourages” them to connect or miss out on interactions.

They also point to “beauty filters” that can lower self-esteem, especially among minors, and cite studies that show 50% don’t look beautiful without facial editing, and 77% say they try to change or hide some part of their appearance . . body with this function.

In a note, California Attorney Rob Bonta added that his investigation of TikTok shows the network “cultivates an addiction to social media to increase corporate profits” and targets children because “it knows they lack protections or the ability to create healthy boundaries.”

Additionally, the lawsuit alleges that TikTok violates child data protection laws by collecting and monetizing data from children under 13, citing researchers’ estimates that “35% of TikTok’s advertising revenue in the United States comes from children and teens.”

The goal, the statement said, is for TikTok to “change its harmful features” and stop using “exploitation tactics” against children, and also calls for penalties, including the return of “fraudulent” profits and compensation to affected users. .

The lawsuit also accuses TikTok of lying by claiming that it operates independently of its Chinese parent company Bytedance and is not subject to influence from the Chinese government.

EFE