TikTok reportedly acknowledges the negative effects it has on teenagers.
The executives and employees of TikTok are fully aware that the platform is addictive and has negative effects on the mental health of adolescents.
Executives and employees at TikTok were aware that the app’s features encourage compulsive use and its corresponding negative effects on mental health, according to an analysis of documents revealed in the context of a lawsuit filed by the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office. This review was conducted by a broadcasting organization that examined unredacted documents, showing a concerning picture of the relationship between the app and its younger users.
Recently, more than a dozen states sued TikTok, accusing it of making misleading claims about being safe for young people. Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman noted that the app is "specifically designed to be an addiction machine, targeting children who are still in the process of developing adequate self-control."
Although many of the submitted documents were redacted, those from Kentucky showed deficiencies in their redactions. Internal TikTok research revealed that "compulsive use is correlated with a series of negative effects on mental health, such as loss of analytical skills, memory formation, contextual thinking, depth in conversations, empathy, and increased anxiety." Additionally, senior executives at the company were aware that compulsive use could interfere with sleep, work and school responsibilities, and even "connection with loved ones."
The app has a time management tool that reportedly does little to help young people disconnect from TikTok. While the tool sets a usage limit of 60 minutes per day, teenagers continued to spend an average of 107 minutes per day on the app, just 1.5 minutes less than the 108.5 minutes average usage before the tool was implemented. Internal documents indicated that the success of this tool was based on how it "improved public confidence in the TikTok platform through media coverage." It was revealed that the company knew the tool would not be effective, acknowledging that "minors do not have the executive function to control their screen time, while young adults do."
TikTok is also aware of the existence of "information bubbles" and their potential danger. Employees conducted internal studies and found themselves trapped in negative bubbles after following accounts focused on painful and sad content. They also identified accounts that promote "thinspiration," which is associated with eating disorders. According to their research, users are placed in these bubbles after 30 minutes of continuous usage.
Content moderation is another challenge for the company. Internal research revealed that underage girls received "gifts" and "coins" in exchange for live performances of nudity. It was reported that senior executives instructed moderators not to remove users reported as under 13 years old unless their accounts explicitly indicated this. Additionally, it was acknowledged that a significant number of contents that violate platform guidelines manage to evade moderation techniques, including videos that normalize pedophilia and glorify physical abuse.
A TikTok spokesperson defended the company, stating that the Kentucky Attorney General's complaint "selects misleading quotes and takes outdated documents out of context to misrepresent our commitment to community safety." Furthermore, they asserted that TikTok has "strong safety measures, including the proactive removal of users suspected of being minors" and the implementation of "safety features voluntarily launched, such as default screen time limits, family pairing, and privacy by default for users under 16 years old."
