TikTok Lawsuit for Teenage Harm
The harm caused to teenagers and children by TikTok’s product design and algorithm has been linked to several deaths in the United States. The app has also been connected to several dangerous mental and physical impacts. Parents of young people harmed by TikTok have legal options to hold the platform accountable. Contact our lawyers today to learn more about filing a TikTok harm lawsuit.
Written and edited by our team of expert legal content writers and reviewed and approved by Attorney Matthew Bergman
- Content last updated on:
- November 21, 2024
Written and edited by our team of expert legal content writers and reviewed and approved by
Attorney Matthew Bergman
- Content last updated on:
- November 21, 2024
- Why Are People Filing Harm Lawsuits Against TikTok?
- U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals Allows Blackout Challenge Case Against TikTok to Proceed
- Harm Lawsuits SMVLC Has Filed Against TikTok
- How Does California’s Ruling on Section 230 Impact Lawsuits Against TikTok?
- Who Can File a Harm Lawsuit Against TikTok?
- What Damages Can Be Recovered From a TikTok Harm Lawsuit?
- How Has TikTok Harmed Teens?
- Why is TikTok Responsible?
- How Many Teens Use TikTok?
- How Do You File a Social Media Harm Lawsuit Against TikTok?
- Social Media Attorneys Experienced With Lawsuits Against TikTok
TikTok is one of the most widely used social media platforms among children and teenagers in the United States. Unfortunately, using the platform is uniquely dangerous to young people. Using TikTok has been linked to several physical and mental health harms, including depression, eating disorders, loneliness, and even death or suicide.
Our lawyers have been at the forefront of filing addiction lawsuits against social media companies, including TikTok, on behalf of those harmed by the platforms. We are tireless advocates for the justice victims of social media use deserve. If your child or teen has been harmed by their use of TikTok, contact us today.
Why Are People Filing Harm Lawsuits Against TikTok?
Using social media platforms such as TikTok poses risks for users. Teenagers and children are even more susceptible because their brains are still developing. Younger users are more likely to participate in dangerous trends and challenges. In addition, they’re often more sensitive to content that may harm their self-esteem. The adverse effects of social media, including TikTok, include social media addiction, depression, feelings of isolation, problems with body image, self-harm, and even suicide.
TikTok’s failure to protect its young users from the harms associated with using the platform has led to several lawsuits against the company. The Social Media Victims Law Center has been helping young people file lawsuits against TikTok for teen harm.
Lawsuit Documents Reveal TikTok Executives Knew About App’s Negative Impact on Teens
Leaked documents from the Kentucky Attorney General’s lawsuit against TikTok revealed that executives at the social media company were not concerned with the harm the app poses to American teenagers, according to NPR. The suit was one of 14 filed in October after a years-long investigation into TikTok by the attorneys general of several states. Each suit makes the same allegations—that TikTok was specifically designed to addict young users and that TikTok deceived the public about the risks of using its platform.
Unlike the 13 other state lawsuits, the Kentucky lawsuit was not redacted correctly, exposing over 30 pages of previously unseen internal documentation. The redacted portions of the suit included internal studies and communications regarding the dangers of TikTok for children.
One internal document noted that the company knew that TikTok leads to a strong and constant urge to keep opening the app. The attorneys general claim these features are explicitly intended to addict young users. The document also shows that TikTok executives knew that compulsive usage has negative mental health effects and interferes with user’s sleep, school responsibilities, and social engagement.
The redacted material reveals that some remedial measures TikTok implemented to reduce screen time had a negligible impact, but the company touted the effectiveness of the features anyway. TikTok officials claim that the leaked documents have been taken out of context and misrepresent their commitment to safety.
Over a Dozen States Sue TikTok for Its Addictive Design Features that Hook Children and Teens
The Attorneys General of 13 states and the District of Columbia filed suit against TikTok on October 8, asserting that the app’s addictive design features are doing damage to the mental health of children and teens. The goal of the suits, the Attorneys General say, is to stop TikTok from using addictive features, impose financial penalties, and collect damages for users who say the app has harmed them.
TikTok’s algorithm is at the core of each suit, and the suits claim that it and other design features like endless scrolling addict and harm children. According to AP News, the lawsuit from the D.C. Attorney General called TikTok’s algorithm “dopamine-inducing” and intentionally addictive, allegedly trapping young users into excessive use. D.C.’s suit also claimed that TikTok continues to push these features despite knowing that they will lead to psychological and physiological harm for users.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Allows Blackout Challenge Case Against TikTok to Proceed
ATTORNEY
“While this case is specific to the “blackout challenge,” it has broader implications that apply to many SMVLC cases. This ruling will only apply in the Third Circuit (Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware) for now, but could be influential with other courts. We anticipate that TikTok will request a rehearing by the full Third Circuit and then review by the U.S. Supreme Court. There is still a long way to go in these cases, but this is an important step! ”
On August 27, 2024, the Philadelphia-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reversed a Pennsylvania trial court’s order dismissing a “blackout challenge” case against TikTok and its parent company. The appellate panel held that in Anderson v. TikTok, TikTok’s algorithmic recommendation of a “blackout challenge” video to a 10-year-old girl who died as a result of attempting the challenge was not immune from liability under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. This is the first time a court of appeals has allowed a “blackout challenge” case against TikTok to proceed.
Tawainna Anderson sued TikTok in 2022 after her daughter’s death in 2021 from attempting the challenge, which involved users of the app choking themselves until they passed out. Though federal law typically shields social media platforms from lawsuits over content posted by users, the Third Circuit ruled that the law does not bar Anderson from pursuing claims that TikTok’s algorithm specifically recommended the challenge to her daughter.
In the appellate panel’s opinion, U.S. Circuit Judge Patty Shwartz said that Section 230 only immunizes information provided by third parties, not recommendations TikTok itself made via an underlying algorithm. Shwartz said that a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in July, which held that a platform’s algorithm reflects “editorial judgments” about “compiling the third-party speech it wants in the way it wants,” meant that content curation using algorithms is first-party speech by the social media company itself, leaving it unprotected by Section 230.
For now, this ruling only applies in the Third Circuit, which contains Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. However, because the opinion was marked as precedential, it will likely have broader implications for many social media harm lawsuits.
Harm Lawsuits SMVLC Has Filed Against TikTok
Our firm has continued to fight for the rights of children and young adults who have been impacted by TikTok. We have filed several lawsuits against the company for the harm it has caused its users as a result of the companies negligence to create a safe platform:
- Zackery Nazario – Our firm has filed a subway surfing challenge lawsuit on behalf of Zackery against against Meta Platforms, Inc., ByteDance, Inc., and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).
- Mason Edens – Mason was a 16-year-old who died from suicide and was served self-harm content on TikTok. “Tiktok, in order to maintain his engagement over a very short period of time, deluged him with videos promoting that he not only take his life, but that he do so” in a specific way – Matt Bergman
- C. N. vs. Bytedance, Inc. et al.: The parents of 16-year-old C.N. filed a wrongful death lawsuit against TikTok in March of 2023. C.N., a Long Island teenager with no history of depression or anxiety before using TikTok, took his own life after the TikTok algorithm showed him thousands of videos promoting suicide and self-harm.
- Smith et al. vs. TikTok, Inc.: The parents of 8-year-old Lalani Erika Walton and 9-year-old Arriani Jaileen Arroyo filed a wrongful death lawsuit against TikTok in July of 2022. The lawsuit states that these two children died by accidental self-strangulation while attempting the viral “blackout challenge,” a trend where users post videos strangling themselves until they lose consciousness. The platform featured videos of the blackout challenge on the children’s “For You” pages.
- D.S., K.R., and K.S. vs. Tiktok, Inc. et al.: 12-year-old K.S. and her parents filed a personal injury lawsuit against TikTok after she developed a severe eating disorder after constant content promoting eating disorders appeared on her TikTok account. Some of this content encouraged viewers to restrict their daily calorie intake to “under 500 calories.” K.S.’s eating disorder became so severe that she required hospitalization for over two weeks.
How Does California's Ruling on Section 230 Impact Lawsuits Against TikTok?
In California, Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl ruled that Section 230 does not shield social media companies like TikTok from lawsuits based on product liability claims. Social media companies have used this decades-old law to shield themselves from liability for the third-party content on their platforms. However, it was determined that the law does not protect them from liability for how their platforms are designed and operated.
Who Can File a Harm Lawsuit Against TikTok?
Any child or teen who experienced direct harm by TikTok’s failure to create a safe, functional platform that adequately warns users about the dangers involved in its use may have the legal standing to file a harm lawsuit.
It is common to have parents sue TikTok on behalf of minor children who were harmed or have died because of TikTok’s defective design.
What Damages Can Be Recovered From a TikTok Harm Lawsuit?
A harm lawsuit against TikTok can help victims recover compensation for their losses incurred due to the harm done by the platform. These can cover a variety of damages, including the following:
- Medical bills
- Time out of work to handle or recover from the harm
- Emotional distress
- Pain and suffering
- Funeral and burial expenses
How Has TikTok Harmed Teens?
Addictive social media platforms like TikTok have caused a wide variety of harm to children and teens’ physical and mental health. Click on any of the following links to learn more about how social media has caused these harms to teens:
- Physical health effects, including an inactive lifestyle and trouble sleeping
- Struggles with social skills
- Anxiety
- Body image issues
- Chroming Challenge
- Depression
- Eating disorders
- Fear of missing out, or FOMO, leading to constant checking of notifications/feed
- Loneliness
- Low self-esteem
- Self-harm
- Suicide
Why is TikTok Responsible?
TikTok is liable for the harm caused to teens through using their platform under the U.S. product liability laws. Legally, TikTok is responsible for the damage caused to users due to either a defect in the product or the company’s failure to provide appropriate warnings regarding the use of the platform.
TikTok’s harmful algorithm is intentionally addictive, targeting content to specific users to keep them constantly engaged to maximize the platform’s use. In addition, the platform’s algorithms promote harmful content to users, specifically young people. Furthermore, there is no option for parental controls limiting what content their children see, and no warnings are provided regarding the harm.
Our firm seeks to hold TikTok legally responsible for the harm caused by its platform.
How Many Teens Use TikTok?
According to a 2022 study, 67 percent of American teenagers use TikTok, with 16 percent stating that they use TikTok “almost constantly.” This makes TikTok the second-most used social media platform among American teenagers, behind YouTube.
How Do You File a Social Media Harm Lawsuit Against TikTok?
While the specific details surrounding filing a social media harm lawsuit against TikTok will vary from state to state, the general procedure is to gather witnesses, evidence, and documentation, then combine it into an effective lawsuit. Product liability laws are complicated, so hiring an attorney with the skill, knowledge, experience, and resources to take on a large social media company is important.
Each state has a statute of limitations that generally restricts the timeframe available to file a lawsuit. This statute of limitations generally varies from one to four years from state to state. However, an experienced social media attorney can provide additional guidance and help you navigate the complexities of filing a TikTok harm lawsuit in your state.
Social Media Attorneys Experienced With Lawsuits Against TikTok
The Social Media Victims Law Center has extensive experience filing lawsuits against TikTok on behalf of their clients. Founding attorney Matt Bergman has a proven track record as a products liability attorney, having recovered over $1 billion in compensation for his clients. He was also named one of the Top 100 trial lawyers in the United States.
Contact the Social Media Victims Law Center today to request a free evaluation of your case. We’ll help you learn more about your options to hold TikTok accountable for the harm the platform causes young people.
TikTok Lawsuit
Case Review
TikTok has been named in nationwide social media addiction lawsuits
