Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison says his office is filing a new lawsuit against social media company TikTok.
During a press conference Tuesday, Ellison says he is suing TikTok for preying on Minnesota’s young people and for violating Minnesota law with addictive algorithms and exploitative features.
The Minnesota Attorney General also said that nearly two dozen other attorneys general have been investigating and suing the platform since 2022, alleging that TikTok is violating state consumer protection laws with features designed to be harmful and addictive to minors.
“In our lawsuit, we allege a few things. One, Tiktok has violated the law by designing features that can cause users to, especially children, by the way, to compulsively and excessively use the app, such that they are mentally, physically and financially injured,” said Ellison.
A middle school health teacher says he’s noticed an increase in student mental health issues.
“Over the past several years, I have witnessed a correlation between increased usage of Tiktok and an irrefutable spike in student mental health issues, this includes depression, anxiety, anger management issues and self esteem depletion. Tiktok algorithm is designed to provide students with quick, targeted reels that are based on their track likes and previous clicks. These students are curious and they are underdeveloped in important life skills such as stress management, emotional regulation, communication and the ability to successfully evaluate media messaging, this algorithm often exposes students to inappropriate materials and content which coaxes them into performing unsafe challenges, as well as reels that rapidly switch from uplifting content to depressing content, acting as an emotional roller coaster, which these students struggle to find the tools to navigate,” said teacher Sean Padden.
In the complaint, Ellison asks the court to require substantive changes in how the company operates. Attorney General Ellison also seeks penalties and other monetary relief to address the harms that these practices have caused and to deter future illegal conduct.
