Accused of affecting children’s mental health and wellbeing, TikTok is facing an investigation targeting the algorithms and marketing methods it uses to lure the younger users. The investigations have been launched by several US states to face the social media-driven social challenges.
Eight states, including California and Florida, on Wednesday announced they are probing the popular app known for sharing short videos selected by its algorithms based on the users’ tastes.
The states accused the app, which is owned by Chinese group ByteDance, of encouraging children to spend more time on TikTok available for people under 13 years old in the United States, Agence France Press (AFP) reported.
California attorney general Rob Bonta said, “Our children are growing up in the age of social media — and many feel like they need to measure up to the filtered versions of reality that they see on their screens.”
“We know this takes a devastating toll on children’s mental health and well-being. But we don’t know what social media companies knew and when,” he added.
This investigation follows other similar legal actions against Meta, Facebook’s mother company.
US attorneys general have accused Meta of promoting Instagram among young children and ignoring internal reports highlighting the potential harms of the app, according to documents leaked by former Facebook employee, whistleblower Frances Haugen.
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said investigations by State attorneys general showed that “using Instagram has growing risks on the physical and mental health of younger users including depression, eating disorders, and even suicide.”
“Meta failed to protect the youth on its platforms and chose to ignore the practices that seriously threaten their mental and physical wellbeing, enhanced these practices, and used children to make more profits,” she added.
In response to the investigation news, TikTok spokesperson stated, “the company promises to provide more information about the measures it uses to ensure the safety and privacy of teens.”
