(New York) Prosecutors in 14 US states sued TikTok on Tuesday, accusing the social network of harming the mental health of its young users and collecting personal data without authorization.
They criticize the platform in particular for “using addictive features to push users to stay longer, which has negative consequences on their mental health”, according to a joint press release.
Prosecutors mention, among other things, notifications at all hours, the systematic sequence of videos one after the other or “content intended to attract attention”.
“We disagree with these allegations, many of which seem false and misleading to us,” responded a TikTok spokesperson to AFP.
The group prides itself on having put in place “a solid protection system” for young users and recalls having added other barriers, such as the default system for those under 16.
The latter prevents these users from using messaging or ensures that the content they post does not appear in the video feed of an unknown user.
The group described as “disappointing” the decision to take legal action “rather than working with us on constructive solutions to the challenges facing an entire industry”.
In addition to California and the State of New York, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Louisiana, the District of Columbia (jurisdiction of federal capital Washington), Oregon, South Carolina, Vermont and Washington State.
Similar actions have already been launched by Utah, Nebraska, Kansas, New Hampshire, Iowa and Arkansas.
Texas also took legal action last week against the subsidiary of the Chinese group ByteDance, which it charges for selling the personal data of minor users.
At the beginning of August, the Department of Justice (DOJ) attacked TikTok on the same grounds.
The American Consumer Protection Agency, the FTC, made a report to the DOJ in June regarding a possible violation of the law known as COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act), adopted in 1998.