TikTok is 'digital nicotine' meant to hook kids, AGs fume in new suits

WASHINGTON (CN) — The District of Columbia and 13 states sued social media giant TikTok on Tuesday, accusing the company of knowingly creating an addictive product and getting children hooked with “digital nicotine.”

D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb brought Washington’s suit in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia, asserting that the app’s design — including its algorithm, “infinite scroll,” push notifications, filters and in-app currency — boost the company’s profits at the expense of children’s health.

“TikTok’s platform, designed to be dangerously addictive, inflicts immense damage on an entire generation of young people,” Schwalb said in a statement announcing the suit. “In addition to prioritizing its profits over the health of children, TikTok’s unregulated and illegal virtual economy allows the darkest, most depraved corners of society to prey upon vulnerable victims.”

More than a dozen states brought similar suits against TikTok in their courts Tuesday, including New York, California, Kentucky and New Jersey. Each stems from a national investigation into the company that a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general launched in March 2022.

“TikTok has knowingly exploited our young people for profit,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a written statement. “In New York and across the country, young people have died or gotten injured doing dangerous TikTok challenges and many more are feeling more sad, anxious and depressed because of TikTok’s addictive features.”

Schwalb argues that children are especially vulnerable to TikTok’s “manipulative” features, which exploit their underdeveloped brain reward systems and create “habitual dependence.” He cited a U.S. surgeon general’s warning that the unchecked use of social media apps pose a “profound risk of harm” to minors’ mental health and well-being.

While portions of the suit, particularly exact statistics, were redacted in the filing, Schwalb made clear that young Washingtonians spent a considerable amount of time on the app, with 13-to 17-year-olds checking the app multiple times for several hours a day, which is more than any other age group.

Schwalb added that a significant percentage of children are active on TikTok “when they should be sleeping.” Such compulsive use harms children’s health, including fostering body dissatisfaction, disordered eating behaviors and low self-esteem, Schwalb said.

In an emailed statement, TikTok spokesperson Alex Haurek said the company strongly disagrees with Schwalb’s claims and believes they are inaccurate and misleading.

“We’re proud of and remain deeply committed to the work we’ve done to protect teens and we will continue to update and improve our product,” Haurek said. “We provide robust safeguards, proactively remove suspected underage users and have voluntarily launched safety features such as default screen time limits, family pairing and privacy by default for minors under 16.”

Haurek added that the company had “endeavored to work with” attorneys general over the last two years on privacy and safety issues, and was “incredibly disappointed” with the legal action.

Tuesday’s suits come with TikTok embroiled in another legal battle in Washington, as the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals considers whether to enjoin a looming Jan. 19, 2025, deadline for the app to either divest from its Chinese parent company or face a ban.

The federal government set the deadline in the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, citing national security concerns over parent company ByteDance’s potential control over content and users’ data. The app, which has said divestment is impossible, challenged the ban on First Amendment grounds.

States say TikTok is not the sole culprit, as other social media sites like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook have all deeply affected the health of young people, particularly high school students.

According to a 2021 study by the state superintendent of education, 47% of high school girls in Washington reported psychological distress, including persistently feeling sad or hopeless. Reports of suicidal thoughts, plans or attempts among young people in Washington have increased since 2007, with 26.8% of all female students 15 or younger having seriously considered suicide.

Schwalb says that two new features of the app, TikTok LIVE and TikTok Coins, have increased engagement and exposed children to dangerous parts of the app.

He says that while the live-streaming and virtual currency systems are restricted to adults, TikTok’s weak age verification is easily bypassed by minors, who are then exposed to addictive in-app purchases and content.

Despite such age restrictions, children are still a “crucial market” for TikTok, Schwalb said, due to their familiarity with the internet, high likelihood to have social media accounts and propensity to spend their free time on the app. He argues that children open additional markets for the company via their parents and younger siblings.

Pointing to certain internal TikTok documents, Schwalb says that the company is aware of the dangers both features pose to children but has done nothing to warn users.

“It falsely portrays the app as a safe place where users can control their engagement, their spending and their data,” Schwalb said. “None of this is true. Children entering the app are pitted against some of the most powerful and manipulative design features in the world.”

Schwalb requests that a D.C. Superior judge enjoin TikTok from violating Washington’s consumer protection law by making false or misleading statements about the app and determine adequate civil penalties.

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