Washington D.C.— A coalition of eight US states, including California and Florida, announced on Wednesday the launch of an investigation into the popular TikTok platform, which they accuse of harming children by encouraging them to spend more and more time on it.
The announcement comes as another investigation is underway by a group of attorneys general against Meta, the parent company of Facebook, which they point out for promoting Instagram among the youngest.
For its part, The Wall Street Journal said the move is an extension of an investigation revealed by the same group of eight state attorneys general on Meta Platforms Inc.’s Instagram that focuses on similar concerns.
The Journal said the expansion adds fast-growing TikTok, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd., to the list of targets under scrutiny.
“Today, attorneys general across the country joined an investigation into TikTok for providing and promoting its social media platform to children and young adults, while use is associated with harm to physical and mental health,” the officials said. prosecutors in a joint announcement.
“The investigation focuses, among other things, on the techniques used by TikTok to drive engagement among young users, including increasing the length of time they spend on the platform and the frequency of engagement with the platform.”
Leading the investigation is a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general from California, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, Tennessee and Vermont, the group said, according to the newspaper.
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