The attorneys general of 8 US states with different political orientations announced the opening of a survey on TikTok to understand if the Chinese social network could have negative effects on the mental health of adolescents and children.
The investigation, announced in a press release from the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, will investigate if the company has violated state consumer protection laws and even if it has put users, especially younger ones, at risk: “We will verify the damage that the use causes to young people and what TikTok knows about such damage”, reads the document.
Social network
Green light for 10-minute videos: this is how TikTok hunts YouTube
by Emanuele Capone
A known problem for some time
On social networks there is an age limit to be able to register (that of TikTok is 13 years), but as they told us recently, “our platform is very popular: it is obvious that the kids want to be there, while we work to avoid them, if they can’t be there ”.
In short, the problem is known and it’s not just about the social media controlled by Bytedance: Instagram created the Pause feature thinking precisely of the youngest and at the end of 2021 an interesting report was published on what they would be the effects of these apps on teenagerswhich go online more and more time to make (virtual) friendships, compulsive video games and to shop. Or even a spreading fake news that are a little laugh and a little worry.
In addition to Massachusetts, the states participating in the investigation are CaliforniaFlorida, Kentucky, NebraskaNew Jersey, Tennessee e Vermont.