In a recent development, the state of Utah marked its official legal stance against the social media giant, TikTok, accusing the Chinese-owned app of manipulatively pushing children into unhealthy and obsessive social media use habits. The lawsuit brought forth by Utah claims that TikTok strategically entices children into long bouts of digital engagement, while downplaying the app’s safety and misleadingly distancing itself from its parent company, ByteDance, which is located in China.
The filing was announced by Republican Governor Spencer Cox in a news conference in Salt Lake City. Echoing the sentiments of numerous concerned citizens, Cox emphatically stated his refusal to idly watch social media platforms evade responsibility for child protection measures. He underscored his commitment to holding these entities accountable, even if it necessitated drastic actions.
This legal challenge closely follows similar ones filed by Arkansas and Indiana, amidst anticipation of an imminent US Supreme Court verdict pertaining to the constitutionality of states’ initiatives to regulate social media platforms, spanning everything from Facebook to TikTok.
Crucially, the lawsuit emphasizes pressing public health issues. It underscores the dire psychological implications, such as elevated anxiety and depression levels, corroborated by research findings establishing a correlation between poor mental health and upward of three hours of daily social media use in children.
The state’s Attorney General, Sean Reyes, compared TikTok’s dangerously persuasive algorithmic features to a ruthlessly efficient slot machine. He said during the news conference, “These features create an addictive trap, enticing kids with a relentless barrage of tightly controlled content that they find immensely challenging to disengage from.”
The legal action pursued by Utah endeavors to coerce TikTok into rectifying its problematic conduct. It also intends to impose punitive fines to fund broader educational initiatives and to compensate for the harm inflicted specifically on children in Utah.
A representative for TikTok, Hilary McQuaide, has yet to provide a public response to the allegations contained within the lawsuit.
Interestingly, Utah had previously pioneered legislation centered around regulating children and teens’ digital consumption, particularly targeting apps such as TikTok. Anticipated to be implemented next year, these regulations will instate a digital curfew for users below the age of eighteen. These legislations will necessitate parental consent and age-verification for young users, in addition to granting parents access to their child’s private messages. However, this move has sparked concerns among child advocates who view it as a potential threat to children’s mental health, and particularly detrimental to LGBTQ+ youth facing familial non-acceptance.
