Two years after the suicide of a 15-year-old girl, who said she was the victim of school bullying, her parents decided to file a complaint against Tiktok. Their lawyer points to the “extremely powerful algorithm” of the platform.
This is a first in France. The parents of Marie, 15, who committed suicide in September 2021 in Cassis, have just filed a complaint against the social network TikTok, according to information from franceinfo. The complaint, which franceinfo was able to consult, was filed on September 8 against the Chinese social network for “provocation to suicide”, “failure to assist a person in danger” and “propaganda or advertising of means of killing oneself”.
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On September 16, 2021 in Cassis (Bouches-du-Rhône), Marie was found dead by her parents, hanged in her room. Like many teenagers, Marie often used TikTok. A few weeks before ending her life, she published a video to discuss her discomfort, her fed up with being harassed for her weight. The publication will automatically generate, on his account, the arrival of other videos on the same theme.
“TikTok obviously has its share of responsibility in taking action. The platforms, the social networks, play a role in dealing with a teenager who is already extremely psychologically fragile due to the harassment he suffers.”
Laure Boutron-Marmion, lawyer for Marie’s parentsat franceinfo
The lawyer denounces the TikTok algorithm, “an extremely powerful algorithm”. She emphasizes that it is “undeniable that Marie was unwell and that she expressed it very expressly”. According to Laure Boutron-Marmion, “by the algorithmthe teenager received en masse these videos which are on the same theme and which can only lead to even more harm”.
Since Marie’s suicide, an investigation has been opened into the incidents of school harassment reported. The Toulon public prosecutor’s office specifies that his parents’ complaint against TikTok deserves an in-depth analysis.
A precedent in the United Kingdom
Last year in the United Kingdom, after the suicide of Molly, a 14-year-old girl, a court decision clearly blamed social media algorithms for the first time in this young girl’s act. .
Molly committed suicide in 2017. For her parents, the content she viewed on social media had something to do with it. The young girl had notably received recommendations by email from Pinterest suggesting that she read “Ten posts on depression that you might like”. British justice ruled in favor of the teenager’s parents on September 30, 2022.
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