Oct. 8 (UPI) — Attorneys general from 14 states filed lawsuits Tuesday against the social media platform TikTok, charging the short-video app deceives the public by claiming it is safe for young people.
The cases, filed individually, argue that TikTok, owned by the China-based company Byte Dance, harms the mental health of young people while the platform collects information on them without consent.
“Young people are struggling with their mental health because of addictive social media platforms like TikTok,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. “TikTok claims that their platform is safe for young people, but that is far from true.
“In New York and across the country, young people have died or gotten injured doing dangerous TikTok challenges and many more are feeling more sad, anxious and depressed because of TikTok’s addictive features.”
Other states that have filed lawsuits along with New York include California, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Vermont and Washington. Washington, D.C. filed a lawsuit as well.
TikTok said it will fight against the lawsuits.
“We strongly disagree with these claims, many of which we believe to be inaccurate and misleading,” TikTok said, according to NBC News. “We’re proud of and remain deeply committed to the work we’ve doneto protect teens and we will continue to update and improve our product.
TikTok said it has proactively removed underaged users, have robust safeguards and has voluntarily added screentime limits parental pairings and other protection features.
“We’ve endeavored to work with the attorneys general for over two years and it is incredibly disappointing they have taken this step rather than work with us on constructive solutions to industrywide challenges.”