Kentucky AG Leaks TikTok Data About Metrics, Teen Addiction


It takes less than 35 minutes for an average TikTok user to become “addicted” to the platform, Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman alleged in a lawsuit brought against the company last week.

“Defendants know that all it takes to hook an average user is viewing 260 videos,” the complaint alleges. “While this may seem substantial, TikTok videos can be as short as 8 seconds, and are played for viewers in rapid-fire succession, automatically. Thus, in under 35 minutes, an average user is likely to become addicted to the platform.”

Those allegations and many others in Coleman's complaint rely on internal TikTok data that was provided to the attorney general under a confidentiality order. While the confidential material was blacked out of the PDF version of the complaint, the redaction wasn't done correctly and the information is viewable when pasted into a text document.

advertisement

advertisement

As of Monday afternoon, the complaint was still available on the Kentucky news site LINKnky. Coleman was one of 14 attorneys general who sued TikTok last week.

NPR first reported on the flawed redactions.

The redacted material includes information about metrics, as well as internal reports regarding teens' use of the app.

For instance, the redacted passages allege that TikTok's internal estimates show at least 95% of smartphone users between the ages of 13 and 17 used the app at least once a month, and that a TikTok study showed that users under 18 spend an average of 106 minutes per day on the app.

A redacted portion of the complaint also refers to a report by the internal group “TikTank,” which allegedly found that “compulsive usage correlates with a slew of negative mental health effects like loss of analytical skills, memory formation, contextual thinking, conversational depth, empathy, and increased anxiety.”

The redactions also include allegations regarding political strategies.

The company document “September Outreach & Strategic Planning Exec Summary” allegedly “identifies powerful lawmakers at the federal level, and seeks to identify TikTok accounts that might persuade each politician -- along with his or her staff -- as to the value of the Platform,” according to the complaint.

“As one would imagine, the document identifies Senator Mitch McConnell as a prospective target for establishing influence, and further identifies one of his potential interests as 'KY Small business' ... Accordingly, defendants identify several Kentucky-specific accounts and posts that might entice the Senator,” according to a redacted allegation.

Next story loading loading..