Challenges and more

Harmful to minors: US states sue TikTok

TikTok is coming under further pressure in the USA due to lawsuits filed by US states. The accusation: TikTok has deliberately designed the video platform in such a way that children and young people want to spend more and more time there. This was detrimental to their well-being. TikTok rejected the accusations.

The attorneys general of 13 US states and the capital Washington point to functions such as the ability to scroll further and further with videos that start automatically. They argued that this makes children in particular addicted to more. They also criticize filters that change the appearance and the spread of so-called challenges, in which users publish videos with sometimes dangerous activities.

TikTok countered that there are robust safety precautions and restrictions on the time young users spend on the platform.

Further lawsuit pending
In August, the US government increased the legal pressure on TikTok with a lawsuit over the collection of children's data. The video app and its Chinese parent company Bytedance had made it too easy for children under the age of 13 to open accounts without their parents' consent, according to the US Department of Justice's statement of claim.

TikTok is already defending itself against a law in the USA that is intended to force a change of ownership. There are fears in US politics that the Chinese government could access American users' data via Bytedance and use the app for propaganda. TikTok rejects this and went to court in the USA to stop the law.