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TikTok is harming kids — knowingly.
And, while the same could be said of many other social media platforms, there’s nothing more sinister than a Chinese-owned app parasitizing young American minds.
New documents from an investigation by Kentucky’s Attorney General Russell Coleman claim TikTok is well aware of kids under 13 using the app — in violation of its own policies — as well as being aware of underage girls stripping on livestreams, and its role in causing sleep deprivation in kids and teens.
It’s about time for American parents, politicians, educators and, really, all of us to fight back against TikTok’s stranglehold on 170 million American users, once and for all.
Although parts of Coleman’s court-filed evidence were redacted because of a confidentiality agreement made between investigators and TikTok, reporters for Kentucky Public Radio were able to decipher faultily blacked-out material.
The 30 pages of redacted material are primarily findings from internal TikTok investigations, documents and communications. Some of the information was previously public in Nevada and Utah’s investigations into the app.
It reveals that 95% of teens with smartphones are on TikTok — and yet, according to the document, TikTok is aware that the platform “interferes with essential personal responsibilities like sufficient sleep, work/school responsibilities, and connecting with loved ones.”
A TikTok executive, whose name is redacted, admitted the app prevents “sleep, and eating, and moving around the room, and looking at someone in the eyes.”
TikTok also, according to the document, knows that kids under 13 are on their platform, in violation of their community guidelines. And yet moderators on the app were reportedly told by TikTok not to remove accounts reported by other users as underage unless the user’s bio specifically says they’re younger than 13.
The document also shows that it takes just 35 minutes — or 260 videos — to get addicted to TikTok, assuming 8 seconds per video.
“TikTok intentionally manipulates the release of dopamine in young users’ developing brains and causes them to use TikTok in an excessive, compulsive, and addictive manner that harms them both mentally and physically,” the Kentucky lawsuit against the company claims.
The app also allegedly artificially promotes the content of attractive people — and the company reportedly tweaked the algorithm to stifle the content of less attractive people.
Kentucky investigators claim TikTok “took active steps to promote a narrow beauty norm even though it could negatively impact their young users.”
The document also claims the company was aware that 15-year-olds were stripping on livestream for adults paying them in “coins,” a digital currency purchased with real money. By TikTok’s own measure, there was a “high” number of underage streamers involved in such schemes.
And, last but not least, the company was aware that parental time limits had just about no effect on app usage.
In response to public concern about addiction and time usage, in 2023 TikTok began letting parents set time caps on their children’s accounts.
The company’s own tests revealed the time limits managed to carve just a minute off average daily use — but they chose not to further investigate and instead ignored its ineffectiveness.
However, teen accounts, which Instagram also has, do just about nothing to actually cut down on screen time — which we know degrades sleep, mental health, and quality of life for teens.
Token efforts for good press seem not to make much of a difference after all.
“Unfortunately, this complaint cherry-picks misleading quotes and takes outdated documents out of context to misrepresent our commitment to community safety,” a TikTok spokesperson told The Post. “We have robust safeguards, which include proactively removing suspected underage users, and we have voluntarily launched safety features such as default screentime limits, family pairing, and privacy by default for minors under 16. We stand by these efforts.”
They added, “We’ve endeavored to work with the Attorneys General for over two years, and it is incredibly disappointing they have taken this step rather than work with us on constructive solutions to industrywide challenges.”
In response to the report, Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) demanded TikTok hand over all documents related to child safety in a letter sent Friday. A TikTok spokesperson told The Post that they will be responding to the letter directly.
Also, on October 8, more than a dozen states — led by New York and California — sued the app for misleading the public about its safety and for perpetuating a teen mental health crisis in violation of consumer protection laws.
“Kids and families across the country are desperate for help to address this crisis, and we are doing everything in our power to protect them,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in an announcement about the suit.
“I am sadly not surprised by these revelations,” psychologist Dr. Jean Twenge, author of “Generations” told The Post. “[TikTok’s] moderation routinely allows disturbing and inappropriate content. It also makes sense that they are aware the parental time limits didn’t work but didn’t care, given that they make more profit the more time kids and teens spend.”
As a Zoomer who grew up online, I agree.
Like all social media companies, TikTok is incentivized to grab kids’ attention with its algorithmic heroin. But we should be especially wary when it’s a Chinese-owned company that has direct access to our kids through their screens.
Especially because TikTok knows how to do it better.
China took great pains to protect its kids from the dangers of the app by rolling out a special version, called Douyin.
The domestic iteration caps usage at 40 minutes a day between, 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., prevents endless scroll, and promotes pro-social, educational and patriotic content.
Shouldn’t American kids demand at least the same protections — if not more?
It’s time for American families to fight back against this shady social media psy-op, to put our feet down, and to delete this app from the American consciousness once and for all.