By Zainab Shafiq 
New legal trouble is on the horizon for TikTok as 13 US states and the District of Columbia filed lawsuits Tuesday, alleging that the social media leader harms young people. Filed in New York and California and 11 other states, the suits broaden the Chinese social media giant’s already ongoing battle with US regulators and impose financial penalties.
The states also claim that TikTok intentionally uses addicting software to keep the young user engaged for long hours. They argue that this raises profitability because it targets children, who are more susceptible to addiction. “TikTok promotes social media addiction to increase corporate profits,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said. “They target children because they realize that kids do not have the inner strength to create healthy boundaries.”
They also asserted that TikTok had misrepresented its content moderation policies, failing to protect the young users from harmful content. New York Attorney General Letitia James added, “TikTok’s addictive social platform is also complicit in young people’s tragic struggle with their mental health.”
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In response, TikTok denied the charges as “inaccurate and misleading,” further calling “saddened that the states decided to escalate this matter to litigation rather than working together to find solutions.” The platform says it provides safety features, including screen time limits and default privacy settings for users under 16.
More bombastically, Washington D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb accused the app of offering live streaming and virtual currency “akin to a virtual strip club with no age restrictions” which, he said, helps facilitate the sexual exploitation of minors.
This wave of suits fits into a larger stream of probes and lawsuits against TikTok, including one from the Justice Department over the company’s failure to protect children’s privacy. TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, continues to battle potential U.S. legislation that could lead to the app being completely banned.
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