Thirteen United States states and the District of Columbia filed new lawsuits on Tuesday against the popular social network TikTok, which they accuse of harming and failing to protect young people.
The lawsuits, filed separately in New York, California, the District of Columbia and 11 other states, expand Chinese-owned TikTok’s legal fight with US regulatorsand are seeking new economic sanctions against the company.
The states accuse TikTok of using intentionally addictive software designed to keep children watching as long and as often as possible and of misrepresenting its effectiveness in content moderation.
“TikTok cultivates social media addiction to increase corporate profits,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. “TikTok intentionally targets children because they know they don’t yet have the defenses or ability to create healthy boundaries around addictive content.”
TikTok seeks to maximize the amount of time users spend on the app by targeting them with ads, according to the states.
“Young people are struggling with their mental health due to addictive social media platforms like TikTok,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James.
TikTok said last week that it strongly disagrees with accusations that it fails to protect children, saying that “in fact, we offer robust safeguards for teens and parents.”
Washington’s lawsuit accused TikTok of facilitating sexual exploitation of underage users, saying TikTok’s livestream and virtual currency “operate as a virtual strip club with no age restrictions.”