Utah sued TikTok on Tuesday, alleging that company intentionally utilizes technology to keep kids interested in harmful content.At a press conference to announce the lawsuit, Governor Spencer Cox remarked, "The harms to children need to stop."
In a consumer protection complaint filed in Salt Lake City state court, it is alleged that TikTok employs technologies designed to keep kids using the app in spite of the documented negative effects of social media use on children's mental health.
The app, which is situated in Culver City, California, has been accused by Utah of employing algorithms to target children with occasionally violent and upsetting content through its "recommendation engine" in order to keep them using the app.l.
The business disputes Utah's claims.
"TikTok has industry-leading safeguards for young people, including an automatic 60-minute time limit for users under 18 and parental controls for teen accounts," the spokesman for the application stated. "We will continue to work to keep our community safe by tackling industry-wide challenges."
TikTok is safe and secure for teenagers, according to business CEO Shou Zi Chew, who testified before Congress in March despite efforts by politicians to outlaw it. It attracted 150 million active U.S. users at the time, or nearly half the country. According to Utah's lawsuit, it made close to $10 billion in advertising income last year.
At a press conference on Tuesday, state Attorney General Sean Reyes compared TikTok to "a slot machine that hooks kids' attention and does not let them go."
The lawsuit asserts that one of the technologies it uses is "infinite scroll," which offers new movies tailored to a specific user. According to the article, "filter bubbles" are another technique that provide users with more intense loops of the videos that catch their attention.
"TikTok directly profited from addicting children to the app and continued to capitalize on the addictive nature of the app despite knowing the harm that addiction would cause Utah’s children," the complaint states.
According to the attorney general's office, Utah has the highest proportion of children per capita in the nation—more than one in every four residents. Without taking into account their time spent in class or doing homework, about 80% of the K–12 kids in the state spend two or more hours each day on screens.
Utah also claims that TikTok fails to verify user ages, fails to remove all child abuse sexual content or clips dealing with self-harm and eating disorders, fails to adequately address the detrimental effects of teen social media use on their mental health, falls short of screening out child predators, fails to control risky video challenges involving asphyxiation and bone-breaking, and misleads the public about its commitment to protecting children.
"TikTok has lied to parents to create a false sense of security," Reyes stated.
According to the lawsuit, the corporation has engaged in some behavior that violates the Utah Consumer Sales Practices Act.
According to the court document, it demands corrective action and damages "well in excess of $300,000."
Similar claims have been made in lawsuits against TikTok by other states, such as Arkansas and Indiana. The first state to outlaw it was Montana; the app's developers and this action have both been contested.
