TikTok sued by 14 attorneys general alleging its app is harming children's mental health
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14 AGs Sue TikTok Over Mental Health, Data Concerns
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The Facts
Attorneys general from 13 states and Washington, DC, filed lawsuits against the social media platform TikTok on Tuesday over accusations that it's damaging younger users' mental health and collecting minors' data without consent.
The lawsuits allege that TikTok — owned by China-based ByteDance and has 170M American users — violated state laws by falsely claiming its service is safe for young people and hosts "addictive" features such as 24/7 notifications and video autoplay.
The Spin
Anti-China narrative
TikTok is a scourge on society. The app makes billions of dollars off of ad revenue from minors while poisoning their minds, leading many children to partake in deadly trends. At the same time, the platform is an extension of China's invisible hand, raising serious national security concerns. TikTok must be held accountable for its harmful acts.
Pro-China narrative
Like the divest-or-ban law the US passed earlier this year, these suits are just part of a witch hunt against TikTok to make US politicians look like they're tough on China during an election year. These hysterical actions are harming the China-US relations that had been stabilizing in recent years.