Lawsuit Reveals Another Way TikTok Exploits Children
By Movieguide® Contributor
Exploitation of children takes center stage in a recent lawsuit against TikTok.
D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb filed a lawsuit against the platform in October, saying that TikTok, “designed to be dangerously addictive, inflicts immense damage on an entire generation of young people.” He also claims that the platform prioritizes profits over children’s health as it operate an “unregulated and illegal virtual economy” through its livestream feature.
Bloomberg explained that the livestream feature enables TikTokers to broadcast to “billions of strangers” around the world. Viewers can then use real money to send the streamers “digital tips” that the streamers then redeem for cash, which TikTok also takes a cut from.
Schwalb says this system exploits children, allowing “the darkest, most depraved corners of society to prey upon vulnerable victims. The company knows what is happening and has chosen to ignore it. This lawsuit seeks to put an end to its illegal, deceptive, and predatory behavior.”
TikTok claims that the “lawsuit ignores the number of proactive measures that TikTok has voluntarily implemented to support community safety and well-being,” a spokesperson said.
“Instead, the complaint cherry-picks misleading quotes and outdated documents and presents them out of context, which distorts our commitment to the safety of our community,” they added.
However, a judge recently denied TikTok’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit and agreed to unseal data that further exposes the platform’s exploitation.
In D.C., children ages 13-17 spend over two hours per day on TikTok, and 47% of Gen Zers in the District use it daily.
DC News Now explained that despite the large number of children on the app, “TikTok’s internal data from August 2022 shows that moderators only removed about 46% of violent and graphic content overall, with gory content having a removal rate of about 33% during the same time frame.” The data also revealed that “TikTok took down content containing harassment or bullying at a rate of about 39%.”
Though the app is age-restricted, up to 70% of children ages 13-15 get around that and access restricted content like the livestream and digital tip features. TikTok “not only tak[es] money from them with in-app purchases but allow[s] them to be exploited as some adults pay them to perform sexualized acts using the feature,” said DC News Now.
Similar lawsuits against the app have been filed around the country.
In their lawsuit, Utah Governor Spencer Cox and Attorney General Sean Reyes said TikTok allows “young people to be sexually exploited on the TikTok platform in exchange for money.”
“I find the new allegations against TikTok Live not merely concerning but incredibly disturbing. Such disregard for the safety of young users on the platform, much less profiting off their exploitation, cannot and will not be tolerated,” Cox said in a statement to the press. “We will take all necessary actions to protect them from TikTok’s egregious behavior.”
READ MORE: WARNING: HOW TIKTOK LIVE ENCOURAGES SEXUAL ABUSE OF MINORS THROUGH CASH GIFTS
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