Tiktok Knew App Posed Mental Health Risks For Children, Lawsuit Alleges
Date
10/11/2024 7:17:45 PM
(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
Washington Post
TikTok was aware of the short video app's potential negative health effects on children as well as the ineffectiveness of some of its touted mitigation tools, but continued efforts to keep them hooked on the platform, according to a report by NPR, an independent media organization, citing court documents it reviewed.
"Our goal is not to reduce the time spent,” said one TikTok employee, according to NPR, citing a complaint filed by Kentucky earlier this week that was intended to be redacted. The goal, the employee indicated, was rather to contribute to the retention of daily active users.
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On October 8, more than a dozen state attorneys general sued TikTok, accusing the company of harming the well-being of children by using addictive product features.
While the complaints were heavily redacted, NPR reported that the redactions in the Kentucky suit were "faulty” and inadvertently revealed information citing internal company documents and communications. A state judge has since sealed the complaint.
According to NPR, the lawsuit states that TikTok's own research found that "compulsive usage correlates with a slew of negative mental health effects like loss of analytical skills, memory formation, contextual thinking, conversational depth, empathy, and increased anxiety.”
In a statement, TikTok spokesman Alex Haurek called it "highly irresponsible of NPR to publish information that is under a court seal,” and said the complaint "cherry-picks misleading quotes and takes outdated documents out of context to misrepresent our commitment to community safety.”
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