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03/08/2023
(Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong joined 46 states in asking a state court to order social media company TikTok, Inc. to fully comply with an ongoing investigation into whether the company violated consumer protection laws amid the ongoing youth mental health crisis.
The coalition seeks to review internal TikTok communications to determine whether the company engaged in deceptive, unfair, and unconscionable conduct that harmed the mental health of TikTok users, particularly children and teens.
Despite the request for these communications falling within the investigative authority of the state attorneys general, today’s amicus brief asserts that TikTok repeatedly and knowingly failed to preserve relevant information and failed to provide internal communications in a useful format, thereby hampering the investigation.
For example, TikTok employees use an instant messaging service called Lark as their primary mechanism to communicate internally, but TikTok has flouted their duty to preserve communications and provide them in a useable format. They have instead continued to allow employees to send auto-deleting messages over the Lark platform after the start of the investigation and have provided messages to the states in a format that is difficult to use and navigate.
“We know kids on TikTok are being exposed to harmful and hurtful content, including bullying, discussions of self-harm, and more. All of this can be extremely damaging to the physical and mental well-being of the app’s youngest and most vulnerable users. It is vital that our coalition is given access to TikTok’s relevant internal communications so that we can see what the company knew about the role it has played in this mental health crisis,” said Attorney General Tong.
Extensive peer-reviewed research has shown social media platforms, especially image- and video-based platforms like TikTok, are playing a substantial role in harming youth mental health. For example, in February, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released findings demonstrating a startling increase in challenges to youth mental health, youth experiences of violence, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors among teenagers, especially teenage girls. This includes a finding that nearly one-third of teen girls seriously considered suicide in 2021, a nearly 60% increase from a decade prior.
Click here for a copy of the brief.
The multistate investigation, which is led by Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, is joined by the attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, as well as the Hawaii Office of Consumer Protection.
Elizabeth Benton
elizabeth.benton@ct.gov
860-808-5318
attorney.general@ct.gov
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