California is suing TikTok, alleging that the platform is knowingly harming its young users.
Attorney General of California, Rob Bonta, filed the suit in Santa Clara. The lawsuit argues that the app violates the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA) and is addictive and harmful to young people. COPPA is a federal act that prevents internet websites from unauthorized or unnecessarily collecting the data of children under 13. According to NPR, a company documented 95% of smartphone users under 17 use the social media platform. The lawsuit alleged that TikTok has harmed the mental health of its users, especially children and teenagers. Many students agree that TikTok can be damaging to those struggling with their mental health.
“If you are in a bad space, it is so easy to get sucked into something like that,” senior Maggie Arana said. “I think that that is a very common experience for people.”
Freshman Teia Cambouris also felt that TikTok has impacted its users mental health and distorts their perception of the world.
“Not just for me, for everyone,” Cambouris said. “It makes things seem different than how they actually are.”
TikTok has implemented safety features like family pairing, screen time limits and automatically privating accounts belonging to minors. But students believe that these measures, specifically the screen time limit, are ineffective. TikTok puts videos on users’ algorithms reminding them to take breaks and a pop up when a user has spent an hour on the app that can be bypassed with a code.
“They have those things where [it says] ‘stop scrolling’ and then I scroll. Or they do the code,” Arana said. “It doesn’t stop me.”
Junior Danica Chandler agreed with Arana and believes that the reminders don’t work and are easy for users to ignore.
“I literally just scroll past those. I don’t look at [them],” Chandler said.
Many believe that along with stricter enforcement of age restrictions, TikTok needs to change its content, especially with the large number of younger users on the platform.
“It should definitely be more regulated [in the] content that it shows,” Arana said.
Junior Asher Simpson suggested the platform should push more educational content.
“A while ago, they introduced the STEM section of TikTok…which I feel can be fun and innovative for kids,” Simpson said. “I feel like if there was just a way to make it so the kids can only see the stem side of it, that could be beneficial.”
Though TikTok has its negative sides, Arana feels the platform has had a positive impact on her life, specifically her ability to connect with others.
“I feel like it’s allowed me to connect with other people way more,” Arana said. “I’m able to reference a lot of things and I feel like it allows for a quicker connection with others that have that similar sort of understanding.”
