Attorneys general from at least eight states in the United States has announced that they had launched a nationwide probe of TikTok — owned by ByteDance — focusing on its effects on young people's mental and physical health.
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey's office statement said, "As children and teens already grapple with issues of anxiety, social pressure, and depression, we cannot allow social media to further harm their physical health and mental wellbeing."
TikTok has said in a statement that it focuses on the safety of young users and provides for age-appropriate experiences. The company appreciated the efforts of this investigation in the interest of young adults. "We look forward to providing information on the many safety and privacy protections we have for teens," TikTok said.
The investigation will see if the way TikTok functions and promotes its platform has a negative effect on children, teens, and young adults. The investigation will also look at what TikTok knew about those harms. The methods used by the application to boost user engagement will also be probed.
The probe is led by a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general from California, Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Tennessee, Vermont and others.