Mass. AG Campbell sues TikTok, alleging platform ‘contributed to a youth mental health crisis’
- by The Boston Globe
- Oct 08, 2024
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Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell on Tuesday announced she filed a lawsuit against TikTok, joining more than a dozen attorneys general in claiming the social media platformâs owners intentionally designed it to be harmfully addictive for young people while deceiving the public of health risks.
The suits, which were filed individually by 14 attorneys general from both parties, come as TikTok has exploded in popularity in recent years as both a source of entertainment and news.
The platform has increasingly been used as a political tool, including by both presidential campaigns, as more than 60 percent of teens and adults under 30 report using the platform, according to the Pew Research Center. But it has also seen backlash from politicians looking to curtail its influence, primarily over concerns about its ownership by a Chinese company called ByteDance.
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Campbellâs office said the Massachusetts iteration of the lawsuit, a 109-page complaint filed in Suffolk Superior Court, alleges TikTok had violated the stateâs consumer protection laws and âcontributed to a youth mental health crisisâ among hundreds of thousands of users in Massachusetts.
Her office claimed TikTok had data confirming âthe mental and physical harms associated with excessive and compulsive use.â Despite that, TikTok, they said, âdeployed âcoerciveâ design features intended to hook youth into spending as much time as possible on its platform ... to their detriment,â often late at night.
âMassachusetts will not tolerate a future where companies exploit the vulnerabilities of young people for profit,â Campbell said in a statement.
Similar to other lawsuits around the country, Campbellâs office criticized elements of TikTokâs tailored algorithm, such as its âautoplayâ and âinfinite scrollâ features, that allow users to see an endless stream of tailored content on a âfor youâ page.
Michael Hughes, a TikTok spokesperson, pushed back on characterizations of the platform from the attorneys general, pointing to ârobust safeguardsâ he said the platform implemented for younger users such as its privacy settings for minors under 16.
âWe strongly disagree with these claims, many of which we believe to be inaccurate and misleading. Weâre proud of and remain deeply committed to the work weâve done to protect teens, and we will continue to update and improve our product,â Hughes said.
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He added: âWeâve 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.â
The lawsuits mark the latest in a string of recent actions politicians have taken to push back on the popular social media platform, often tied to concerns about the perception that China could influence content. The app is banned from being used on government-issued devices in a majority of states around the country, though not in Massachusetts.
Earlier this year, the Biden administration signed a law passed by Congress that could effectively ban the platform in the US unless it was sold to another company. That law is currently tied up in the courts and sparked significant public outcry.
Health professionals, too, have voiced concerns about its use. In 2023, Vivek Murthy, the US surgeon general, publicly expressed concerns that social media usage could harm the mental health of those under 18, contributing to conditions such as depression, anxiety, and poor sleep.
Still, that has not stopped candidates and elected officials from using the platform. Both Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump, for example, have millions of followers apiece there, as their campaigns have employed it in their media strategies to bolster support among voters they might not be able to reach elsewhere.
Political content has proliferated on the app, and an increasing number of users under 30, in particular, are more likely to say they get their news from the platform.
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Campbell filed a similar lawsuit last fall against Meta Platforms Inc., the group that operates Facebook, and Instagram, a subsidiary of the platform, in Suffolk Superior Court.
Her work built on that of Governor Maura Healey, who in 2022, as attorney general, led another bipartisan group of attorneys general around the country in investigating whether TikTok was operating âin a manner that causes or exacerbates physical and mental health harms.â
The lawsuits announced Tuesday were led by attorneys general from New York and California, and were also filed in Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Jersey, Oregon, South Carolina, Vermont, Washington state, and Washington, D.C.
Anjali Huynh can be reached at anjali.huynh@globe.com.
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