Utah Sues TikTok, Cites ‘Worsening Mental Health’ In Young People
By Movieguide® Contributor
The state of Utah has sued the popular social media app TikTok over its harmful effects on children and its deception about ties to China.
WND reported, “The lawsuit alleges that TikTok misled consumers about its safety and that it causes substantial mental harm to children due to its addictive nature. It also alleges that the app has been deceptive about the extent of ByteDance’s influence in order to evade suspicion and regulation.”
“TikTok claims that its ‘mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy.’ Nothing could be further from the truth,” the lawsuit states. “Instead, TikTok intentionally designed and deployed an addictive product to bring itself financial gain by monetizing the attention of young users. This business practice has quickly made TikTok into one of the world’s largest social media companies.”
The document adds that Utah is home to the most children per capita, making the harmful effects of the app even more concerning.
“TikTok’s conduct is especially concerning for Utah, which has the largest percentage of children per capita in the nation: 27.6% of Utahns are eighteen or younger.”
Additionally, the state has seen increased mental health issues since the app became popular.
“As TikTok’s popularity has skyrocketed in recent years in the State, Utah has unsurprisingly witnessed a worsening of mental health trends among adolescents,” the lawsuit continues. “In 2023, over three quarters (76.7%) of Utah’s middle- and high-school-aged children reported symptoms of depression and 32.3% of students reported episodes of psychological distress such as persistently feeling sad or hopeless.4 In 2023, 17.6% of all students reported seriously considering attempting suicide and 19.8% of students reported instances of purposeful self-harm, including cutting or burning themselves.”
Utah is not the first state to sue the Chinese-based app. In 2022, Indiana sued TikTok for the same reasons.
Montana has also banned the app, according to a previous Movieguide® article.
“The law makes it illegal for TikTok to be available for download within Montana. The state would be able to fine any ‘entity,’ such as the Apple App store or Google Play store, $10,000 per day each time a user is offered the ability to download or access the app.”
The law is set to go into effect January 1, 2024.
Movieguide® previously reported:
While the idea of a TikTok ban has all but been forgotten in the public eye, lawmakers are still debating the platform’s future for American users…
First, it is unclear if a ban would hold up in court. Current regulatory laws are not strong enough to restrict an app from the entire country, and legislation to strengthen these restrictions has stalled as the topic has faded from public discussion…
American companies like Apple would face immediate backlash from China if a national TikTok ban were to be imposed.
Finally, lawmakers have considered the political effects of banning TikTok. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told Bloomberg News earlier this year that if the government were to ban TikTok, “you’re going to literally lose every voter under 35, forever.”
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