A group of attorneys general is probing TikTok from around the country for its possibly detrimental effects on youngsters.
According to a press release issued by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey on Wednesday, the investigation will look into “whether TikTok is designing, operating, and promoting its social media platform to children, teens, and young adults in a manner that causes or exacerbates physical and mental health harms.”
The attorneys general will investigate whether TikTok broke consumer protection laws and endangered the public by employing “methods and techniques… to boost young user engagement, including increasing the duration of time spent on the platform and frequency of engagement with the platform,” according to the attorneys general.
Attorneys general from California, Florida, New Jersey, Kentucky, Nebraska, Tennessee, and Vermont are conducting the nonpartisan probe.
“We cannot allow social media to further harm their physical health and mental wellbeing,” Healey said in a statement. “As children and teens already struggle with issues of anxiety, social pressure, and depression, we cannot allow social media to further harm their physical health and mental wellbeing.” “State attorneys general have a responsibility to safeguard children and to learn more about how corporations like TikTok affect their everyday lives.”
Instagram is also being investigated by a group of state attorneys general for its possibly detrimental influence on teenagers. In addition, religious organizations have asked the company to abandon plans to build a kids’ version of the app after Meta halted the project in September 2021.
A request for comment from TikTok was not immediately returned.