More than a dozen states are coming together to sue TikTok, joining many other states that had previously done so, California Attorney General Rob Bonta and New York Attorney General Letitia James announced on Oct. 8.
The attorneys general announced that they are co-leading a bipartisan coalition of 14 attorneys general in filing suits against the social media company.
The legal actions, filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court and other jurisdictions, accuse the social media platform of exploiting and harming young users while deceiving the public about its dangers.
“Our investigation has revealed that TikTok cultivates social media addiction to boost corporate profits,” Bonta said in a statement. “TikTok intentionally targets children because they know kids do not yet have the defenses or capacity to create healthy boundaries around addictive content. When we look at the youth mental health crisis and the revenue machine TikTok has created, fueled by the time and attention of our young people, it’s devastatingly obvious: Our children and teens never stood a chance against these social media behemoths.”…