PA Sues TikTok Over Alleged Failure To Provide Safeguards For Children

HARRISBURG, PA — Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday on Tuesday announced his office has filed a lawsuit against TikTok, Inc. The litigation alleges the popular social media behemoth fails to shield children from age-inappropriate content and over-usage of the app, which can hinder youth development.

The complaint, filed this week in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court, alleges that TikTok lies about how often sexual content, nudity, profanity and drug use appears on its platform to receive an age 13+ rating in app stores.

The lawsuit want TikTok to be honest about how the platform appears in app stores and demands the company take steps to protect child uses from becoming addicted to scrolling through it.

“TikTok has built its empire based on a model of addictiveness at all costs, and expanded that empire using deception about what sort of content is viewable for kids,” Sunday said in a statement.

“This is not an indictment against modern technology, or a scolding assessment of social media as a whole — rather, this is an action to hold accountable a company that values dollars over mental wellness.”

The lawsuit alleges TikTok profits from the more time users spend on its platforms scrolling and generating ad revenue for the company. The complaint alleges that TikTok is aware of the addictiveness and barriers that can be implemented to protect kids, but ignores them.

Data from the Pew Research Center shows TikTok has nearly 100 million daily users in the United States. More than two-thirds of teens ages 13-17 use the app, and more than 1 in 5 teens report being on it almost constantly, according to Pew.

Sunday said the lawsuit is in line with prior actions he has taken to protect kids from modern technology that is developed and marketed without adequate consideration of the harm it is causing.

Late last year, he led a series of demand letters sent to A.I. companies regarding harmful chatbots; he continues to collaborate with legislators on laws that will protect Pennsylvanians; and remains engaged in litigation against Meta.