What happened
A two -party coalition of lawyers general from 13 states and the District of Columbia submitted moods against TikTok on Tuesday, claiming that the app on social media was addictive and harmful to children’s mental health.
Who said what
The moods, each one submitted to the State Court, accuse TikTok of “deliberately contributing to a mental health crisis among American teens to maximize their advertising revenue,” New York Times said. The app, which claims 170 million American users each month, was Designed to catch children With addictive functions such as buzzing push notifications, endless rolling and beauty filters that promote unhealthy body images, anxiety and depression, the lawyers claim. The DC mood calls Tiktok’s algorithm “dopamine inducing.”
The legal challenges toward tictok And other social media platforms, including Youtube and Instagram, are “part of a growing bill” aimed at protecting young people’s mental health, Associated Press said. The coordinated moods are similar to how states “previously organized against tobacco and the pharmaceutical industry.”
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Tiktok said that “strongly” does not disagree with the states “incorrect and misleading claims” and are “deeply committed” to protect teenagers.
What now?
Yesterday’s moods are “just the latest legal pressure for Tiktok,” CNN said. Notably, the company is struggling to reverse a total US ban that is scheduled to start next year unless the app lowers the ties with its Chinese change of ownership. The 14 lawyers’ general tries to prevent TikTok from using the alleged addictive functions and introducing financial penalties and damage to users damaged by them.
