TikTok Workers Identify Potential Adolescent Safety Hazards in Legal Deposition Video
In a series of unsealed videos, TikTok has been accused of prioritizing user engagement, particularly among minors, at the expense of user safety. The social media platform dismisses the videos as misleading and taken out of context, claiming they do not reflect its current operations.
The videos bolster the claim that TikTok's algorithm is designed to keep users endlessly engaged, with the potential for vulnerable users to be fed streams of content related to disordered eating or negative mental health themes, with little opportunity to reset or escape.
Employees admit that the company's goal is to keep people on the app for as long as possible, which may not align with good mental health. This contradicts TikTok's public assurances about the safety of its platform for young people.
Concerns include prolonged screen time, sleep disruption, and compulsive scrolling behaviors, which are side effects of a recommendation engine optimized for retention. The North Carolina lawsuit accuses TikTok of unfair and deceptive trade practices, alleging that the company concealed knowledge of the risks tied to its platform.
The state's argument is that TikTok failed to disclose the full extent of these risks to parents and young users. The lawsuit seeks financial penalties and a court order to restrict TikTok's ability to market itself as safe for minors.
TikTok, however, highlights over 70 safety features, including default privacy settings for teens, restricted late-night notifications, and parental control options, as evidence of its commitment to protecting younger audiences.
Growing pressure from state-level lawsuits signals that regulators are widening their focus from national security concerns to public health risks. The outcome of the North Carolina lawsuit could set a precedent for how regulators and courts address addictive design features across the broader social media landscape.
The North Carolina lawsuit is not the only pressure TikTok is facing; it also faces scrutiny over its U.S. future due to potential bans or forced sales under federal law. With a September deadline on the horizon, the looming possibility of a ban or forced sale adds to the mounting pressure on the platform.
The revelations deepen skepticism about TikTok's priorities, with employee testimony suggesting the company knew more about the risks to users than it admitted. The employees seen in the newly released videos of the North Carolina lawsuit who revealed TikTok's internal concerns about addictive design features and their impact on teenagers' health have not been explicitly named in the provided search results.
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