TikTok Execs Know About App's Effect On Teens, Lawsuit Documents Allege (npr.org)
- Reference: 0175235083
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/10/11/2021246/tiktok-execs-know-about-apps-effect-on-teens-lawsuit-documents-allege
- Source link: https://www.npr.org/2024/10/11/g-s1-27676/tiktok-redacted-documents-in-teen-safety-lawsuit-revealed
> For the first time, internal TikTok communications have been made public that [1]show a company unconcerned with the harms the app poses for American teenagers . This is despite its own research validating many child safety concerns. The confidential material was part of a more than two-year investigation into TikTok by 14 attorneys general that led to state officials suing the company on Tuesday. The lawsuit alleges that TikTok was designed with the express intention of addicting young people to the app. The states argue the multi-billion-dollar company deceived the public about the risks. In each of the separate lawsuits state regulators filed, dozens of internal communications, documents and research data were redacted -- blacked-out from public view -- since authorities entered into confidentiality agreements with TikTok.
>
> But in one of the lawsuits, filed by the Kentucky Attorney General's Office, the redactions were faulty. This was revealed when Kentucky Public Radio copied-and-pasted excerpts of the redacted material, bringing to light some 30 pages of documents that had been kept secret. A group of more than a dozen states sued TikTok on Tuesday, alleging the app was intentionally designed to addict teens, something authorities say is a violation of state consumer protection laws. After Kentucky Public Radio [2]published excerpts of the redacted material, a state judge sealed the entire complaint following a request from the attorney general's office "to ensure that any settlement documents and related information, confidential commercial and trade secret information, and other protected information was not improperly disseminated," according to an emergency motion to seal the complaint filed on Wednesday by Kentucky officials.
>
> NPR reviewed all the portions of the suit that were redacted, which highlight TikTok executives speaking candidly about a host of dangers for children on the wildly popular video app. The material, mostly summaries of internal studies and communications, show some remedial measures -- like time-management tools -- would have a negligible reduction in screen time. The company went ahead and decided to release and tout the features. Separately, under a new law, TikTok has until January to divest from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, or face a nationwide ban. TikTok is fighting the looming crackdown. Meanwhile, the new lawsuits from state authorities have cast scrutiny on the app and its ability to counter content that harms minors.
[1] https://www.npr.org/2024/10/11/g-s1-27676/tiktok-redacted-documents-in-teen-safety-lawsuit-revealed
[2] https://www.lpm.org/news/2024-10-09/ag-coleman-sues-tiktok-says-internal-documents-show-company-knowingly-addicted-ky-youth
Yeah so what? (Score:2)
"Porn and smut publishers know the effects naked chicks have on porn hounds." Duuuh!
Conspiracies (Score:3, Interesting)
Friendly neighborhood conspiracy theorist here...
I just wanted to point something out and let you do the thinking.
So we know TikTok is widely used by teenagers. These teenagers often sport a woke mindset, and have been seen to be anti-America and pro-communism or pro-socialism. Really just pro-something new. TikTok isn't the first app that has been divested that China owned. Grindr was.
Grindr has, from the start, been used for drugs, sex, and other ways that are disrupting to the "family." It also targeted a minority, and predates the "woke" popularity (woke being promoting sexual orientation in school, transitioning of trans youth, etc.).
With the knowledge from this article, it seems that all of this coincides with ways to destabilize the American population. Now here is where it gets interesting. Chinese history tells us that the Mao dynasty ushered in communism by starting a revolution among minority groups, similar to what is going on here. TikTok is a platform for that revolution, with many youth being pro-Gaza and against Israel, one of our allies. Gen Z is a minority group, and vocal. So are LGBTQI+, they're vocal.
The ability to create an app to facilitate change is not new. Netflix changed the entire ecosystem to streaming, eventually. Napster forced record labels to offer their music as MP3s without DRM. Change has occurred from apps for a long time. So do you think that China, given the revelations about TikTok, is doing this on purpose?
Re: Conspiracies (Score:1)
Somewhat? I assume that any group with an agenda to push will use all media outlets available to them to achieve their aims. Whether a specific app was developed to propagate specific beliefs is kind of irrelevant.
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
You're almost there. Consider these two important facts: first, the LGTBQ+ crowd is the loudest supporter of Palestinians and Hamas and is anti-Israel (as you said) even though Israel supports western rights such as gay marriage while the punishment for being LGBTQ+ in Gaza is to be thrown from a rooftop. So none of that makes sense. Secondly, consider that Hamas (and Hezbollah) are both supported by Iran (often called Iranian proxies) and Iran and China [1]are close bedfellows [atlanticcouncil.org] these days. American teenage
[1] https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/the-axis-of-evasion-behind-chinas-oil-trade-with-iran-and-russia/
Re: (Score:1)
Exactly. I didn't go into much detail on LGBTQ+ because I didn't want to cause anti-homophobic drama, but you're absolutely right. The same movement, the LGBTQ+, is doing family events and promoting this propaganda to Gen Z / youth. They're quite literally pushing their beliefs onto them, and while that may not directly include Gaza at the events, they preach their philosophies that include why they care for Gaza. Then they go as far as attack anyone that is in support of Israel on social media, often in fr
Re: (Score:2)
> ... sport a woke mindset ...
After years of woke-ness, the government is claiming domestic violence is increasing. Their solution is doubling-down on the man-bashing language while not actually blaming anyone.
In the 90s, "normal" stopped being defined as white, English-speaking, Christian, heterosexual, able-bodied (and almost-frigid, if female) person. It isn't sufficient to say, don't count the sexual partners someone has: As religion proves, bad habits last for centuries. Schools had to denounce slut-shaming and other white-su
Re: (Score:1)
It wouldn't work, because they would lose out on a vast array of knowledge. There just needs to be transparency into what that knowledge is that is being given to them.
It's only going to get worse from here, because as we start using AI, the non-scientifically studied principals that get force fed down the throat of the AI's users by the company, are determining what we learn and in what way. The "safe guards" put in place and the bias in the model's training both determine the outcome of knowledge for a
Is Facebook any different? (Score:4, Insightful)
Sure, Facebook isn't targeting kids to the same extent, and because they're headquartered in the States they have to be more responsive to government pressure, yada yada yada. But realistically, they've denied that they're doing their best to addict users and have been caught out at it via whistleblowers and leaks.
If the government wasn't on these companies' payrolls, a lot more would have been done. But Facebook has come out mostly unscathed. And Tik Tok - created by and beholden to a foreign power whose interests explicitly run counter to those of the US - is STILL doing its shit in the States. That tells you everything you need to know about the federal government's complicity with Big Tech.
The gov may put on a show of putting the screws to these guys, but if they were really serious these businesses would have smartened up or been shut down long ago. And maybe even at the state level the legislators ARE serious - I can't tell. But the Feds are just putting on a show. That's why, at the end of the day, Facebook, Tik Tok, and others, are still unexcised social cancers. Money talks, and bullshit doesn't even walk - it just buries the citizens.
Playing favourites (Score:1)
> ... intentionally designed to addict teens ...
Other social media corporations have done that too: This isn't about bad behaviour, this is about the government controlling corporations.
> ... a host of dangers for children ...
If the US government cared about children, they would be punishing Fox News, Truth Social accounts, X/Twitter accounts, Facebook accounts for inciting children (and adults) to do dangerous things (like putting all-metal objects in electrical outlets), or just for making provably false statements. The government failing to punish a large entity such as Fox News, is a bi
Re: (Score:1)
I don't know how this got ranked a 5. I have not seen any of that on the other platforms, just "false statements" which is subjective because most people like you claim anything they disagree with as false. It may be a side effect of the "bubbles" talked about in the article, where you get trapped in content that reaffirms your beliefs and ideas.
And yes, I use Facebook and X, I don't use Truth Social, although I'm not aware of any kids that do either. Maybe kid-like adults, but not kids. Nor do kids real
Re: (Score:1)
That said, Instagram is almost just as guilty on a lot and I wouldn't be surprised if they use an algorithm to show only beautiful people too. Kids do use that, but it's what people want. Hollywood has done it for years. It's nothing new.
Instagram has done more to protect minors though than TikTok has and doesn't have algorithms that circulate communist agendas, at least as easily.
if we continue to shit on the site (Score:1)
people are dumb enough to leave it for US-owned propagandist media, right boys?
Other than being caught outright... (Score:4, Insightful)
how is this unique to TikTok amongst the many Social Media sites? Seems like they all do this and then try to put up the bare minimum of guard rails so they look like they're doing something about it.
Re: (Score:1)
Because TikTok is the platform of choice for Gen Z. It specifically targets teenagers. Facebook is used by older, and Snapchat isn't used the same way.
Re: (Score:2)
I recall there being internal messages at Facebook to the effect of targeting kids as well. They just haven't achieved the same market penetration.
I'm not sure these sites manipulating older people is any better either. But addressing that would require the politicians (and people reading this post) to confront the uncomfortable idea that "They're manipulating me too". So that won't happen.
A smaller part of it has to do with the foreign ownership of Tik Tok. Only American garbage is allowed.