• by Wendy Davis , 9 hours ago

Hawaii this week joined the roster of states that are suing TikTok for allegedly harming minors' mental health.

"Despite TikTok’s large youth user base, TikTok’s age assurance and age verification systems remain deficient, and TikTok’s efforts to protect these vulnerable users was and is inadequate," Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez alleges in a complaint filed Wednesday in the state's 1st Circuit Court.

Lopez claims the company violates consumer protection laws by allegedly "falsely marketing and promoting -- to children and their families -- an addictive and otherwise harmful social media platform."

The claims are similar to ones raised by more than a dozen other states, including New York, California and Nevada.

"TikTok is aware that its features can harm the mental health of its users, particularly its young users, but is unwilling to sacrifice its corporate profits for its users’ wellbeing," Lopez charges in the complaint.

Among other allegations, the complaint claims that TikTok design features -- such recommendations in the "for you" feed and videos that play automatically -- "manipulate users into compulsive and excessive use."

Lopez also alleges that TikTokwrongly collected data from children younger than 13. (The Department of Justice sued TikTok last year for allegedly violating the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, which prohibits web companies from knowingly gathering personal data from users 12 and younger.)

The Hawaii suit claims TikTok made several misrepresentations to consumers, including that its platform is "safe and appropriate for teens and pre-teens."

A TikTok spokesperson said the lawsuit "is based on misleading and inaccurate claims that fail to recognize the robust safety measures TikTok has voluntarily implemented to support the well-being of our community."

The spokesperson added that the company has "invested billions of dollars in Trust & Safety, and rolled out 50+ preset safety, privacy, and security settings for teens, including private accounts, content restrictions, and screen time tools."