Utah sued Chinese-owned app TikTok on Tuesday, accusing it of harming children by deliberately maintaining younger customers spending unhealthy quantities of time on the short-video sharing platform.
The Utah swimsuit is the newest motion difficult the favored app within the United States, with Indiana and Arkansas bringing comparable fits.
Last month, a federal choose blocked California from implementing a legislation meant to guard children after they use the Internet.
“What these children (and their parents) do not know
is that TikTok is lying to them about the safety of its app and exploiting them into checking and watching the app compulsively, no matter the terrible effects it has on their mental health, their physical development, their family, and their social life,” stated Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes in a submitting.
Utah’s swimsuit filed in state courtroom stated the movies leverage “highly powerful algorithms and manipulative design features — many of which mimic features of slot machines” and the outcome “of these manipulative tactics is that young consumers become hooked.”
ByteDance-owned TikTok, which has greater than 150 million U.S. customers, stated in response to the swimsuit it “has industry-leading safeguards for young people, including an automatic 60-minute time limit for users under 18 and parental controls for teen accounts.”
Reyes stated the state’s investigation is ongoing and he’ll ask a courtroom subsequent week to compel TikTok’s compliance with investigative subpoenas.
Utah is looking for civil penalties in addition to an injunction prohibiting TikTok from violating state legislation that protects customers from misleading enterprise practices.
Indiana’s lawsuit in opposition to TikTok, introduced in December, is pending in state courtroom.
Arkansas additionally sued each TikTok and Facebook-parent Meta in March “for pushing addictive platforms.”
Last 12 months, a gaggle of Republican lawmakers stated “many children are exposed to non-stop offerings of inappropriate content that TikTok’s algorithm force-feeds to them.”
On Thursday, a choose will hear arguments in TikTok’s lawsuit looking for to dam Montana’s first-of-its variety state ban on the usage of TikTok earlier than it takes impact Jan. 1. Montana’s legislature accredited laws to ban TikTok citing spying considerations.
Congress has been contemplating laws for months that might allow the Biden administration to limit or ban TikTok over considerations of potential spying. TikTok has stated it has spent greater than $1.5 billion on rigorous information safety efforts and rejects spying allegations.
The Utah swimsuit is the newest motion difficult the favored app within the United States, with Indiana and Arkansas bringing comparable fits.
Last month, a federal choose blocked California from implementing a legislation meant to guard children after they use the Internet.
“What these children (and their parents) do not know
is that TikTok is lying to them about the safety of its app and exploiting them into checking and watching the app compulsively, no matter the terrible effects it has on their mental health, their physical development, their family, and their social life,” stated Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes in a submitting.
Utah’s swimsuit filed in state courtroom stated the movies leverage “highly powerful algorithms and manipulative design features — many of which mimic features of slot machines” and the outcome “of these manipulative tactics is that young consumers become hooked.”
ByteDance-owned TikTok, which has greater than 150 million U.S. customers, stated in response to the swimsuit it “has industry-leading safeguards for young people, including an automatic 60-minute time limit for users under 18 and parental controls for teen accounts.”
Reyes stated the state’s investigation is ongoing and he’ll ask a courtroom subsequent week to compel TikTok’s compliance with investigative subpoenas.
Utah is looking for civil penalties in addition to an injunction prohibiting TikTok from violating state legislation that protects customers from misleading enterprise practices.
Indiana’s lawsuit in opposition to TikTok, introduced in December, is pending in state courtroom.
Arkansas additionally sued each TikTok and Facebook-parent Meta in March “for pushing addictive platforms.”
Last 12 months, a gaggle of Republican lawmakers stated “many children are exposed to non-stop offerings of inappropriate content that TikTok’s algorithm force-feeds to them.”
On Thursday, a choose will hear arguments in TikTok’s lawsuit looking for to dam Montana’s first-of-its variety state ban on the usage of TikTok earlier than it takes impact Jan. 1. Montana’s legislature accredited laws to ban TikTok citing spying considerations.
Congress has been contemplating laws for months that might allow the Biden administration to limit or ban TikTok over considerations of potential spying. TikTok has stated it has spent greater than $1.5 billion on rigorous information safety efforts and rejects spying allegations.
