New York Attorney General sues TikTok

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEXSTAR) — According to New York Attorney General Letitia James, she led a coalition of 14 state attorneys general in suing TikTok. The lawsuits argue that the social media platform damages mental health among kids by pushing addictive features and lying about safety.

"TikTok’s design choices exploit the neurotransmitter dopamine, which helps humans feel pleasure as reinforcement," reads the lawsuit, which you can read at the bottom of this story. "Dopamine 'rewards' can lead to addictive behavior, particularly when rewards are unpredictable."

The lawsuit argues that TikTok's design promotes spending excessive time to follow dangerous trends on the app, leading to poor mental health. It points to studies showing that using TikTok for too long, especially in teens, can cause poor sleep, depression, and anxiety.

Endless video streams, notifications, and beauty filters lower self-esteem but keep kids engaged while TikTok challenges encourage risky, even fatal behavior. For example, the "subway surfing" TikTok trend led to the death of a 15-year-old boy in New York City.

"Depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and suicidal ideation have all reached record levels among children in New York and elsewhere," the lawsuit argues. "A growing body of evidence isolates addictive social media as a key driver of the youth mental health crisis."

Per the lawsuit, TikTok lies when claiming to operate independently from Chinese companies and isn't influenced by the Chinese government. It also allegedly refused to develop or apply improvements to protect profits. The lawsuit said that leadership ignored employees who suggested ways to make the platform safer, but it redacted three specific examples.

The lawsuit also argued that TikTok violates privacy laws by collecting data from kids under 13 without consent, despite claims to protect young users. The coalition aims to force a redesign to the platform including clear warnings and tools to limit the time spent scrolling. It also pushed for financial punishments, like civil penalties for each violation of consumer protection laws and giving up profits made from targeting ads at kids.

Should the lawsuit make TikTok change its ways, it could set a precedent for how social media treats young users going forward and how New York could interact with Meta, Google, or Twitter/X in the future. "Kids and families across the country are desperate for help to address this crisis," James said in a written statement announcing the lawsuit. "We are doing everything in our power to protect them.”

Attorneys general from 14 other states sued at the same time: California, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia.

Take a look at the lawsuit below: