TikTok is once again getting unsolicited attention after a group of state attorneys general launched an investigation into how it is bad for kids.
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, known for being the first openly gay state attorney general in the US, is at the head of this new investigation into the viral video-sharing social media platform.
She is not alone as bipartisan AGs from California, Florida, New Jersey, Kentucky, Nebraska, Tennessee, and Vermont sit on the investigation board.
Healey released a statement on Wednesday, 3 March 2022, that they are looking into TikTok’s operation to determine if it is making the physical and mental health of ‘children, teens and young adults’ worse. How?
“The investigation focuses, among other things, on the methods and techniques utilized by TikTok to boost young user engagement, including increasing the duration of time spent on the platform and frequency of engagement with the platform,” part of the statement reads.
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This is not the first time this group is coming together to check a social media platform. In May 2021, 44 of them successfully stopped Facebook from launching its Instagram version for children below 13. Also, in November of the same year, Healy led another investigation into how Meta (formerly Facebook) was promoting content to kids on Instagram.
Because kids now battle with anxiety, social pressure, and depression, Healey urged the public that it is time to reduce the role social media plays in this.
While this may not be as large as the October 2021 investigations into data privacy that nearly forced it under, it is still another storm that the company has to weather.
Parents and guardians have been expressing concern over the duration their kids spend online and the harm of consuming unfiltered content. They can change this by supervising their online activities. For example, if they set their kid’s TikTok account to be under 13, such kids will be unable to post or comment on videos.
You may also like to read, How To Use Parental Control Settings On Google Play To Protect Children.
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