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TikTok Lawsuit Reveals Child Safety Concerns and Ineffective Mitigation Tools, NPR Reports

Oct 11, 2024, 03:25 PM

A multi-state lawsuit against TikTok has brought to light significant concerns regarding child safety on the platform. Internal communications, research, and data from TikTok, which were revealed due to a redaction error by the Kentucky Attorney General's office, indicate that the company was aware of the potential negative health effects on children. These effects include loss of analytical skills, memory formation, contextual thinking, conversational depth, empathy, and increased anxiety. Despite this, TikTok executives appeared unconcerned about the harms and prioritized traffic over well-being. The platform's addictive nature, which can manifest after just 35 minutes of use, was also highlighted. TikTok's mitigation tools, such as 'break' videos, were found to be ineffective, serving more as talking points for policymakers rather than actual solutions. The findings were reported by NPR citing court documents.