Bipartisan AG Group Probing TikTok for Child Harms
A bipartisan group of state attorneys general announced an investigation Wednesday into the harms TikTok might have on young users and the company’s efforts to boost user engagement. AGs from California, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, Tennessee and Vermont…
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joined the probe. President Joe Biden targeted youth mental health issues and links to social media during his State of the Union address Tuesday evening (see 2203010072). Texas AG Ken Paxton (R) is investigating TikTok separately (see 2202180034) for “potential facilitation of human trafficking and child privacy violations.” The probe will “look into the harms using TikTok can cause to young users and what TikTok knew about those harms,” said California AG Rob Bonta, D-Calif. AGs are interested in “strategies or efforts to increase the duration of time spent on the platform and frequency of engagement with the platform.” TikTok cares "deeply about building an experience that helps to protect and support the well-being of our community, and appreciate that the state attorneys general are focusing on the safety of younger users," the company said.