Utah sues TikTok for ‘inciting’ and luring minors to content that is harmful to them
The state is concerned about the effect the platform may be having on the mental health of young people.
Utah sued TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, Tuesday for "inciting" and luring minors to consume content that is harmful to them. Republican Governor Spencer Cox and state Attorney General Sean Reyes announced that they had filed a lawsuit in Salt Lake City court against the platform for causing children to spend hours hooked on the social network. Cox assured that this was something the state was not willing to allow, per the AP:
According the lawsuit, the social network’s tactics to attract minors have caused serious concerns about the public health of young people.
Children at serious risk due to excessive use of TikTok
In fact, the state explained in the lawsuit, children who spend more than three hours a day on social media, be it TikTok, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) or Instagram, double their risk of "suffering from mental health problems, including anxiety and depression." However, in the case of the Chinese social network, the situation is worsening, as explained by Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, in statements picked up by Reuters:
For this reason, the state is seeking to force the digital platform to change its "destructive behavior." To do this, Reyes explained, they will impose fines and sanctions with the aim of subsidizing the damage that excessive use of the application has caused to Utah children.
The social network defends itself
TikTok issued a statement via email claiming that the accusations made against it by the state of Utah are not true. According to platform spokesperson Alex Haurek, the social network has developed several tools to limit the time that children spend on it: