TikTok has being targeted by a coalition of US attorneys general for its claimed negative influence on youngsters. Representatives from seven different states are likely to undertake an inquiry to determine if the social network breached the country’s consumer protection rules and endangered the public.
TikTok is considering adding support for lengthier videos to its site.
Remember TikTok’s new features that went live in 2021?
The investigation will look at whether TikTok develops, runs, and advertises its platform for children, adolescents, and young people in a way that harms or worsens their physical and mental health. According to the investigation’s main prosecutor, Maura Healey, these persons are more sensitive to issues including as anxiety, social pressure, and depression.
“We must allow social media to exacerbate your physical and emotional health,” she said in a statement. Healey emphasizes that state attorneys general have a responsibility to safeguard children and gather information on how firms like TikTok impact daily life.
TikTok concerned about health
TikTok stated that it will supply prosecutors with all of the information they want, as well as demonstrate the systems in place to protect adolescents’ privacy and safety. “We are passionately committed to creating an experience that protects and promotes the well-being of our community, and we appreciate that state attorneys general are concentrating on the safety of younger users,” a company spokeswoman told CNET.
The Chinese social network spends substantially on features that give users control over their digital image, as well as greater security measures for individuals under the age of 18. Since 2021, young individuals who have enrolled have had their profiles restricted and others’ access to their recordings prohibited.
A new area dedicated to rumors and perilous challenges was launched last week. In early February, the platform stated that it plans to add a grading system to its algorithm, so that youngsters do not have access to information that is acceptable for persons above the age of 14, for example.
This move by US prosecutors appears to be predicated on the same issue as the Instagram case. Meta’s picture social network is being investigated in a same manner, following allegations that the program is damaging to minors. Plans to create a children’s edition, aimed solely at children under the age of twelve, were shelved due to widespread public opposition.
