On Tuesday, 14 US states backed their lawsuits against TikTok due to lack of child protection with serious allegations: California’s Justice Secretary and Attorney General insisted that the branch of the Chinese company ByteDance “knowingly exploited our The youth were exploited.” Rob Bonta.
Advertisement
A glitch has now made it clear on what basis the states are making their harsh allegations. An internal TikTok communication exchange that was accidentally made public suggests for the first time that the operator largely ignored the video app’s known threats to child protection and yet launched controversial manipulative actions. Did.
Charge: Cheating the public
According to one, the confidential material was American public broadcaster NPR reports Part of a two-year-long investigation of TikTok by state attorneys general. States argue that the billion-dollar company misled the public about the risks. In each individual lawsuit filed by state regulators, dozens of internal communications, documents and research data were redacted. Prosecutors previously reached a confidentiality agreement with TikTok.
But a court filing, which came from the Kentucky Attorney General’s office, said the amendments were incorrect. broadcaster That’s why Kentucky Public Radio is successfulSimply copying and pasting excerpts of allegedly unrecognizable material and thus bringing about 30 pages into the light of day.
Addicted after 260 videos
NPR editors said they reviewed all redacted parts of the lawsuit, in which TikTok executives openly discussed the many dangers to children and teens on the app, which is especially popular among those age groups. Therefore the explosive material is mainly a summary of internal studies and communications. Their purpose is to show that some measures, such as time management tools, will result in negligible reductions in screen time. The company nevertheless decided to introduce and promote the features.
According to the documents, TikTok has determined the exact number of views that are required until the personalization algorithm has a widespread effect and using the application becomes a habit: there must be 260 videos. After that, “the user is likely to become addicted to the platform,” state investigators noted. “While this may seem significant, TikTok videos can be as short as 8 seconds and automatically played for faster audiences.” Using this formula, an average user develops a feeling of intoxication in less than 35 minutes.
TikTok’s own research
TikTok’s own research also states that “compulsive use is related to a range of negative mental health outcomes, such as impairment of analytical skills, memory formation, episodic thinking, depth of conversation, empathy, and increased anxiety.”
Additionally, the documents show the operator was aware that “compulsive use also interferes with essential personal obligations such as adequate sleep, work/school responsibilities, and contact with loved ones.” TikTok is also aware that content that promotes eating disorders (“thinspiration”) is linked to problems such as dissatisfaction with one’s own body, eating disorders, low self-esteem, and depression.
Court documents are now sealed
After Kentucky Public Radio published excerpts of redacted material, a US federal court judge sealed the entire complaint at the request of the Attorney General’s Office. The move is intended to ensure that more “settlement documents and related information, confidential trade and trade secrets and other proprietary information are not unlawfully disseminated,” according to an emergency motion to keep the complaint confidential. Officials in Kentucky presented this on Wednesday. A TikTok spokesperson defended the company’s existing child protection measures and condemned the publications.
In Europe, British regulatory authority Ofcom fined TikTok $1 million in July for errors in providing information on child protection. In the EU, platform operators are considered “gatekeepers” and must comply with strict obligations under the Digital Services Act (DSA). In April, the company “voluntarily” suspended reward functions in TikTok Lite after the EU Commission threatened to take strict action against the program in question.
(usz)
