Minnesota sues TikTok, alleging it preys on young people with addictive algorithms

The TikTok logo is seen on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen which displays the TikTok home screen, Oct. 14, 2022, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota on Tuesday joined a wave of states suing TikTok, alleging the social media giant preys on young people with addictive algorithms that trap them into becoming compulsive consumers of its short videos.

“This isn’t about free speech. I’m sure they’re gonna holler that,” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said at a news conference. ”It’s actually about deception, manipulation, misrepresentation. This is about a company knowing the dangers, and the dangerous effects of its product, but making and taking no steps to mitigate those harms or inform users of the risks.”

The lawsuit, filed in state court, alleges that TikTok is violating Minnesota laws against deceptive trade practices and consumer fraud. It follows a flurry of lawsuits filed by more than a dozen states last year alleging the popular short-form video app is designed to be addictive to kids and harms their mental health. Minnesota’s case brings the total to about 24 states, Ellison’s office said.

Many of the earlier lawsuits stemmed from a nationwide investigation into TikTok launched in 2022 by a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general from 14 states into the effects of TikTok on young users’ mental health. Ellison, a Democrat, said Minnesota waited while it did its own investigation.

Sean Padden, a middle-school health teacher in the Roseville Area school district, joined Ellison, saying he has witnessed a correlation between increased TikTok use and an “irrefutable spike in student mental health issues,” including depression, anxiety, anger, lowered self-esteem and a decrease in attention spans as they seek out the quick gratification that its short videos offer.

The lawsuit comes while U.S. President Donald Trump is still trying to broker a deal to bring the social media platform, which is owned by China’s ByteDance, under American ownership over concerns about the data security of its 170 million American users. While Trump campaigned on banning TikTok, he also gained more than 15 million followers on the platform since he started sharing videos on it.

No matter who ultimately owns TikTok, Ellison said, it must comply with the law.

TikTok disputed Minnesota’s allegations.

“This 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,” company spokesperson Nathaniel Brown said in a statement. ”Teen accounts on TikTok come with 50+ features and settings designed to help young people safely express themselves, discover and learn.

“Through our Family Pairing tool, parents can view or customize 20+ content and privacy settings, including screen time, content filters, and our time away feature to pause a teen’s access to our app,” Brown added.

Minnesota is seeking a declaration that TikTok’s practices are deceptive, unfair or unconscionable under state law, a permanent injunction against those practices, and up to $25,000 for each instance in which a Minnesota child has accessed TikTok. Ellison wouldn’t put a total on that but said, “it’s a lot.” He estimated that “hundreds of thousands of Minnesota kids” have TikTok on their devices.

“We’re not trying to shut them down, but we are insisting that they clean up their act,” Ellison said. “There are legitimate uses of products like TikTok. But like all things, they have to be used properly and safely.”

Minnesota is also among dozens of U.S. states that have sued Meta Platforms for allegedly building features into Instagram and Facebook that addict people. The messaging service Snapchat and the gaming platform Roblox are also facing lawsuits by some other states alleging harm to kids.

Steve Karnowski, The Associated Press