HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHP) — Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday announced a civil lawsuit filed against TikTok alleging violations of the Pennsylvania consumer protection law.
The lawsuit addressed concerns regarding its addictiveness and lack of safeguards to protect young users.
The lawsuit alleges that TikTok misrepresented its platform on app stores to achieve a rating of 13 or older.
Sunday said that TikTok’s current age rating exposes children to content that is “beyond their years.” He said that TikTok has done nothing to limit kids’ time on the platform, purposefully encouraging excessive, compulsive and addictive behaviors like “bed rot” and “doom scrolling.”
“As easy as a child can watch the Rock make breakfast or hang out with his kids, they can see someone drinking alcohol or consuming drugs, and that is what is often glorified,” Sunday said.
The goal of the lawsuit is for TikTok to more accurately reflect the app’s content in the age rating, so parents have a better concept of what their kids are exposed to.
Sunday said, “It is not to prevent the evolution of technology. There are wonderful, amazing things that come with technology, but it is critical that that technology does not evolve and happen at such a cost to our children.”
In addition, the lawsuit seeks to put in place more in-app safeguards or effective barriers to keep kids who are on the app away from adult content.
“If social media companies did not take actions to protect our children, then I would,” Sunday said.
This is the first effort in creating more safe guards for TikTok from a Pennsylvania official, but Sunday said there would be more to come.