On October 8, 2024, the District of Columbia Attorney General (AG) announced that it filed a lawsuit against TikTok Inc., for violations of state consumer protection laws by causing mental and physical harm to children through its platform, deceiving its users and their parents about the safety of its platform, and illegally operating a money transmission business. What are the allegations in the complaint? In the lawsuit, the AG alleges that: TikTok is intentionally addictive, harmful, and exploitative and uses a dopamine-inducing algorithm that spoon-feeds users highly tailored videos to keep them trapped on the platform for hours on end; TikTok falsely claims its platform is a safe pl
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District of Columbia: AG sues TikTok for violations of state consumer protection laws
October 9, 2024
Summary
The District of Columbia Attorney General filed a lawsuit against TikTok Inc. on October 8, 2024, for causing harm to children, deceptive practices regarding platform safety, and operating an unlicensed money transmission business. The complaint alleges that TikTok's algorithm is addictive, the platform falsely advertises safety features, it facilitates financial exploitation of children, and profits from sexual exploitation through its livestreaming and virtual currency features. Similar lawsuits have been filed by AGs in multiple states across the nation.