West Virginia Attorney General McCuskey Sues TikTok on October 29, Alleging Its Algorithm Hooks Children and Safety Gaps Were Hidden From Parents
West Virginia: Attorney General JB McCuskey announced on October 29 that the state has filed a new consumer protection lawsuit accusing TikTok of designing its recommendation systems to encourage compulsive use among children. The complaint was filed in Kanawha County Circuit Court.
The suit alleges TikTok knowingly designed its app to keep young teens engaged as long as possible, failed to disclose safety gaps to parents and caregivers, and exposed children to predators. The Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division tested the platform with one account registered to an adult and another to a 13-year-old girl; the child account repeatedly received sexually suggestive content while the adult account largely received cooking, local business and family content. "West Virginia parents should not have to compete with an algorithm built to keep their kids scrolling," McCuskey said.
The case is the latest in a series of state actions over youth safety on social platforms, focusing on whether recommendation algorithms amount to inducement design aimed at minors and whether platforms met their duty to warn parents of risks. TikTok has not publicly responded to the new lawsuit, and the allegations remain for a court to decide.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 西弗吉尼亚州议会大厦（Wikimedia Commons，组稿时核授权）（Wikimedia Commons：West Virginia State Capitol Building.jpg，授权 CC BY-SA 3.0，作者 Analogue Kid）
