Will This State’s Lawsuit Against TikTok for Harmful Content Succeed?
By Movieguide® Contributor
Nebraska sued TikTok, claiming the platform harms children, but the social media giant is fighting back.
Nebraska says the lawsuit will hold TikTok “accountable for the harms they have inflicted on Nebraskans, most notably vulnerable minors, by falsely marketing and promoting their addictive and otherwise harmful product, TikTok, in this State.”
These harms include “Depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and suicide,” all of which have reached “record levels” across the United States.
However, TikTok argues “that it isn’t liable to the state over statements it made to its young users,” according to TikTok-clash-over-internet-law-jurisdiction-in-case-over-harmful-app-content/">Court House News.
“What the state does is point to examples of inappropriate content on the platform, third party content on the platform, that it says disprove the statements,” TikTok-clash-over-internet-law-jurisdiction-in-case-over-harmful-app-content/">said Blaine Evanson of California’s Gibson Dunn, who is arguing for TikTok. “What is mild to a suburban parent of toddlers is a very different thing than what is mild to a college student.”
“The state is challenging statements that TikTok made primarily on static webpages that do not mention Nebraska, that were not made from Nebraska and were not directed at or expressly aimed at Nebraska,” Evanson TikTok-clash-over-internet-law-jurisdiction-in-case-over-harmful-app-content/">added. “And the only connection that the state identifies between those statements and the state is that, allegedly, individuals in the state viewed those statements.”
TikTok claims that statements about “content moderation and the suitability of the app for teens and families were not directed specifically at Nebraskans, therefore the state lacks personal jurisdiction, which requires that an entity do business or have contacts in an area covered by the court.”
This isn’t the first time TikTok has been targeted due to its harmful effects on children and teens.
TikToks-algorithms-show-users-potentially-harmful-content.html">READ MORE: HOW TikTok’S ALGORITHMS SHOW USERS POTENTIALLY HARMFUL CONTENT
“TikTok tells parents its platform is safe for kids, but our investigation reveals that nothing could be further from the truth,” Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers lawsuit-against-TikTok-nebraska-state-court">said in a statement. “Within minutes of signing up, the TikTok algorithm has shown kids inappropriate content, ranging from videos that encourage suicidal ideation and fuel depression, drive body image issues, and encourage eating disorders to those that encourage drug use and sexual content wildly inappropriate for young kids.
“Parents deserve to be fully and truthfully informed so they can help their kids make positive, healthy choices. Our office will not stand by while social media platforms mislead parents while dosing digital poison to our children,” he added.
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