California, 7 Other States Investigate Effects of TikTok on Kids

Several state attorneys general have initiated a probe to investigate the effects of the popular app TikTok on children and teens' physical and mental health.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta and seven other attorney generals from Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Vermont will look into whether TikTok, an app from a China-based company, is putting children at risk and violating consumer protection laws.

According to press releases, the probe will look into the negative impact of TikTok on children and whether or not TikTok is aware of these harmful effects of the app on its young users. The investigation will focus on the strategies that the app employs to increase the time spent by young users on the app and their techniques to boost engagement among children and teens.

Endangering physical and mental health of young users

Several US lawmakers and federal agencies have criticized the app saying that the promotion of content of TikTok endangers both the physical and mental health of its young users. According to 2021 statistics, about 80 million active users of TikTok in the United States and about 1 billion users worldwide. Youngsters aged 10 to 19 years old make up the largest demographic among the platform's users.

Attorney General Bonta said that children are growing in the social media age and that they may feel the burden of living up to the unreasonable expectations or filtered versions of reality that they see on social media, particularly on the famous platform. Bonta explained that this could have a significant toll on children's mental health, and the investigation will center on determining the management's level of involvement and awareness regarding these harms. The probe will also determine if the social platform is violating the law.

Late last year, a nationwide probe was also done to investigate Meta, the parent company of Facebook. According to Bonta, Meta promoted Instagram, another platform under the parent company, to young users. Promoting social media use and platforms for kids under the age of 13 is harmful to their physical and mental health. This is why 44 attorneys general last year urged the social media giant to drop their plans of creating an Instagram version for younger users. Due to widespread criticism, Meta announced that they would pause the development of the said social media platform.

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Features to help parents and young viewers

It can be recalled that the Trump administration wanted to ban TikTok and WeChat over issues on security. TikTok, which ByteDance, a Chinese company, owns, had to resolve concerns over data collection and national security for the prohibitions to be lifted.

Child safety advocates are concerned about algorithms feeding inappropriate video content to their young viewers. TikTok defended that they have features in place to help parents and young people moderate what they see on the app and how long they can use it. Some features for adults, such as direct messaging, are not available for children. The social media platform has also tightened its privacy practices for minor users.

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