2024-10-08 16:52:58
They particularly criticize the Chinese social network for “using addictive features to push users to stay longer” online. The latter denies these accusations.
New experimentation in the world of social networks. Prosecutors in fourteen 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 particularly criticize the platform “use addictive features to make users stay longer, which has negative consequences on their mental health”according to a joint press release. The prosecutor’s office mentions, among other things, the 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 we believe to be false and misleading”a TikTok spokesperson responded to AFP. The group is proud to have established itself “a solid protective device” for young users and remember that we have added other barriers, such as a default device for children under 16. The latter prevents these users from using messaging or ensures that the content they post does not appear in an unknown user’s video feed. The group described “disappointing” the decision to take legal action “rather than work with us on constructive solutions to the challenges facing an entire industry”.
In addition to California and New York State, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Louisiana, District of Columbia (jurisdiction of the 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. Last week, Texas also took legal action against the subsidiary of the Chinese group ByteDance, which it accuses of selling the personal data of underage users. In early August, the Department of Justice (DOJ) attacked TikTok for the same reasons. The US Consumer Protection Agency, the FTC, submitted a report to the Department of Justice in June regarding a possible violation of the law known as COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act), adopted in 1998.
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