N.H. AG Sues to Halt TikTok’s ‘Unfair Acts and Practices’ for Harming Kids

Though TikTok claims publicly to be committed to maintaining a safe and secure online environment, the platform “prioritizes profits and market growth over app safety,” alleged New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella (R) in a complaint Tuesday in New Hampshire Superior Court in Merrimack. TikTok misleads New Hampshire’s children and their parents “by lying about its ability to effectively moderate and maintain a safe digital environment for children,” said the complaint. TikTok’s features “exploit children’s underdeveloped psychological and neurological controls to lock young users into cycles of excessive and unhealthy usage of social media apps,” it said. “The consequences for New Hampshire’s children are devastating,” it said. TikTok’s business practices “are driving record levels of mental health problems, not to mention fueling body dysmorphia, pedophilia, and dangerous, sometimes illegal behaviors” in New Hampshire, it said. While excessive use is “highly lucrative” for TikTok, it’s “incredibly harmful to young users,” it said. Kids ages 13-17 “report using social media at a near-universal rate, with as many as 30% characterizing their own usage of social media as excessive,” it said. The eight-count complaint alleges that TikTok’s conduct constitutes multiple violations of New Hampshire’s consumer protection statute and common laws. The suit asks the court to permanently enjoin TikTok from engaging in the unlawful acts alleged, including its “deceptive and unfair acts and practices.”