TikTok sued by 13 US states and capital, accused of harming younger users

TikTok faces new lawsuits filed by 13 U.S. states and the District of Columbia i.e. Washington, D.C., accusing the popular social media platform of harming and failing to protect young people.

The lawsuits filed separately in New York, California, the District of Columbia, and 11 other states, on Tuesday expand Chinese-owned TikTok's legal fight with U.S. regulators and seek new financial penalties against the company.

The states accuse TikTok of using intentionally addictive software designed to keep children watching as long and often as possible and misrepresenting its content moderation effectiveness.

"TikTok cultivates social media addiction to boost corporate profits," California Attorney General Rob Bonta

"TikTok intentionally targets children because they know kids do not yet have the defenses or capacity to create healthy boundaries around addictive content," said California Attorney General Rob Bonta in a statement.

TikTok seeks to maximize the amount of time users spend on the app in order to target them with ads, the states say.

"Young people are struggling with their mental health because of addictive social media platforms like TikTok," said New York Attorney General Letitia James.

TikTok disagrees

TikTok said on Tuesday that it strongly disagreed with the claims, "many of which we believe to be inaccurate and misleading," and that it was disappointed the states chose to sue "rather than work with us on constructive solutions to industrywide challenges."

TikTok provides safety features including default screen time limits and privacy defaults for minors under 16, the company said.

Washington D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb alleged TikTok operates an unlicensed money transmission business through its live streaming and virtual currency features.

"TikTok's platform is dangerous by design. It's an intentionally addictive product that is designed to get young people addicted to their screens," Schwalb said in an interview.

'Sexual exploitation'

Washington's lawsuit accused TikTok of facilitating sexual exploitation of underage users, saying TikTok's live streaming and virtual currency "operate like a virtual strip club with no age restrictions."

Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Vermont, and Washington state also sued on Tuesday.

In March 2022, eight states including California and Massachusetts, said they launched a nationwide probe of TikTok impacts on young people.

The U.S. Justice Department sued TikTok in August for allegedly failing to protect children's privacy on the app. Other states previously sued TikTok for failing to protect children from harm, including Utah and Texas. TikTok on Monday rejected the allegations in a court filing.

TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance is battling a U.S. law that could ban the app in the United States.

Free speech vs national security

In April, U.S. President Joe Biden signed a law compelling the parent company to sell TikTok within a year or face the ban.

At a hearing in federal court in September, the Chinese-owned company pleaded against the ban.

The three judges hearing the case at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit remained unsure if TikTok’s plea of free expression weighs heavier than the national security concerns expressed by Washington.

The judges said that millions of TikTok users across the US have First Amendment protections, which include freedom of expression, and the government forcing a ban on the app could violate those basic constitutional rights.

Unless upturned, the ban will come into effect on January 19.