West Virginia sues TikTok over child safety concerns
Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 29 Oct, 17:13 · Archive
West Virginia Attorney General J.B. McCuskey has filed a lawsuit alleging TikTok violated consumer protection laws and harmed children.
West Virginia Attorney General J.B. McCuskey filed a lawsuit on Thursday alleging that TikTok violated several state consumer protection laws and ultimately harmed the state's children. The Attorney General claims the app is designed to keep young teens engaged for as long as possible without adequate safeguards for underage users.
McCuskey said in a statement: 'West Virginia parents should not have to compete with an algorithm built to keep their kids scrolling, while targeting them with sexualized content.' The lawsuit alleges that the platform's features make children discoverable and reachable, exposing them to predators. The Consumer Protection Division tested the platform using one account registered to an adult and another to a 13-year-old girl, identifying notable differences in content delivery: the child account repeatedly received sexually suggestive content whilst the adult account largely received content focused on ordinary interests like home improvement and local restaurants.
McCuskey added: 'Parents have a responsibility to monitor what their kids are doing online, absolutely. But they are cut off at the knees when companies like TikTok do nothing to close safety loopholes and conceal risks of their platform from parents.' The lawsuit also references a West Virginia University study examining TikTok's mental health risks for state children, which found that more frequent TikTok use was associated with more depressive symptoms.
How it is being reported
- AG McCuskey suing TikTok 'for putting West Virginia kids at risk'The West Virginia Attorney General's Office previously sued OpenAI, was involved with a settlement with Meta, and reached a settlement with Roblox.Wowktv · 29 Oct, 16:41
- West Virginia sues TikTok, alleges app harms childrenWest Virginia Attorney General J.B. McCuskey filed a lawsuit Thursday alleging TikTok violated several West Virginia consumer protection laws and ultimately harmed the state’s children.WVVA · 29 Oct, 16:15
In this story: West Virginia · TikTok · J.B. McCuskey · West Virginia University
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