TikTok Execs Know About App's Effect On Teens, Lawsuit Documents Allege (npr.org) 15
An anonymous reader quotes a report from NPR : For the first time, internal TikTok communications have been made public that show a company unconcerned with the harms the app poses for American teenagers. This is despite its own research validating many child safety concerns. The confidential material was part of a more than two-year investigation into TikTok by 14 attorneys general that led to state officials suing the company on Tuesday. The lawsuit alleges that TikTok was designed with the express intention of addicting young people to the app. The states argue the multi-billion-dollar company deceived the public about the risks. In each of the separate lawsuits state regulators filed, dozens of internal communications, documents and research data were redacted -- blacked-out from public view -- since authorities entered into confidentiality agreements with TikTok.
But in one of the lawsuits, filed by the Kentucky Attorney General's Office, the redactions were faulty. This was revealed when Kentucky Public Radio copied-and-pasted excerpts of the redacted material, bringing to light some 30 pages of documents that had been kept secret. A group of more than a dozen states sued TikTok on Tuesday, alleging the app was intentionally designed to addict teens, something authorities say is a violation of state consumer protection laws. After Kentucky Public Radio published excerpts of the redacted material, a state judge sealed the entire complaint following a request from the attorney general's office "to ensure that any settlement documents and related information, confidential commercial and trade secret information, and other protected information was not improperly disseminated," according to an emergency motion to seal the complaint filed on Wednesday by Kentucky officials.
NPR reviewed all the portions of the suit that were redacted, which highlight TikTok executives speaking candidly about a host of dangers for children on the wildly popular video app. The material, mostly summaries of internal studies and communications, show some remedial measures -- like time-management tools -- would have a negligible reduction in screen time. The company went ahead and decided to release and tout the features. Separately, under a new law, TikTok has until January to divest from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, or face a nationwide ban. TikTok is fighting the looming crackdown. Meanwhile, the new lawsuits from state authorities have cast scrutiny on the app and its ability to counter content that harms minors.
But in one of the lawsuits, filed by the Kentucky Attorney General's Office, the redactions were faulty. This was revealed when Kentucky Public Radio copied-and-pasted excerpts of the redacted material, bringing to light some 30 pages of documents that had been kept secret. A group of more than a dozen states sued TikTok on Tuesday, alleging the app was intentionally designed to addict teens, something authorities say is a violation of state consumer protection laws. After Kentucky Public Radio published excerpts of the redacted material, a state judge sealed the entire complaint following a request from the attorney general's office "to ensure that any settlement documents and related information, confidential commercial and trade secret information, and other protected information was not improperly disseminated," according to an emergency motion to seal the complaint filed on Wednesday by Kentucky officials.
NPR reviewed all the portions of the suit that were redacted, which highlight TikTok executives speaking candidly about a host of dangers for children on the wildly popular video app. The material, mostly summaries of internal studies and communications, show some remedial measures -- like time-management tools -- would have a negligible reduction in screen time. The company went ahead and decided to release and tout the features. Separately, under a new law, TikTok has until January to divest from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, or face a nationwide ban. TikTok is fighting the looming crackdown. Meanwhile, the new lawsuits from state authorities have cast scrutiny on the app and its ability to counter content that harms minors.
Other than being caught outright... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
I recall there being internal messages at Facebook to the effect of targeting kids as well. They just haven't achieved the same market penetration.
I'm not sure these sites manipulating older people is any better either. But addressing that would require the politicians (and people reading this post) to confront the uncomfortable idea that "They're manipulating me too". So that won't happen.
A smaller part of it has to do with the foreign ownership of Tik Tok. Only American garbage is allowed.
Yeah so what? (Score:1)
Xenophobic propaganda? (Score:1)
Tik-Tok provides nothing more than what other social media providers. Because it is a critical news source for a generation and arguably the only way for younger people to earn money, it is attacked on all sides. However, because of the First Amendment, every attack or attempt at bans against Bytedance always fall short.
Sorry, but Tik Tok is as much a part of American culture as Coca-Cola for it to go away anytime soon.
Conspiracies (Score:1)
I just wanted to point something out and let you do the thinking.
So we know TikTok is widely used by teenagers. These teenagers often sport a woke mindset, and have been seen to be anti-America and pro-communism or pro-socialism. Really just pro-something new. TikTok isn't the first app that has been divested that China owned. Grindr was.
Grindr has, from the start, been used for drugs, sex, and other ways that are disrupting to the "family." It also t
Re: Conspiracies (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
Is Facebook any different? (Score:2)
Sure, Facebook isn't targeting kids to the same extent, and because they're headquartered in the States they have to be more responsive to government pressure, yada yada yada. But realistically, they've denied that they're doing their best to addict users and have been caught out at it via whistleblowers and leaks.
If the government wasn't on these companies' payrolls, a lot more would have been done. But Facebook has come out mostly unscathed. And Tik Tok - created by and beholden to a foreign power whose i
Playing favourites (Score:2)
Other social media corporations have done that too: This isn't about bad behaviour, this is about the government controlling corporations.
If the US government cared about children, they would be punishing Fox News, Truth Social accounts, X/Twitter accounts, Facebook accounts for inciting children (and adults) to do dangerous things (like putting all-metal objects in electrical outlets), or just for making provably false statements. The government failing to punish a large entity such as Fox News, is a bi