TikTok is facing yet another legal challenge in the US -- this one alleging that the algorithmic systems and process it uses harm the mental health of children.

According to The Guardian, today more than a dozen states and the District of Columbia have filed new lawsuits against the app, which suggests that the very design of TikTok is meant to addict young people.

As The Guardian reports:

The complaints were filed in state courts and arise out of a nationwide investigation into TikTok launched by a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general from several states-including California, Kentucky, and New Jersey-in March 2022. All assert that TikTok's algorithm is uniquely treacherous considering the platform's popularity among youth and its propensity to deliver rapid hits of dopamine.". Prosecutors add that design decisions like infinite scrolling, push notifications, and in-app purchases prey on youth and create bad practices on the users' side.
Which has always been a concern that TikTok, which is based more so than your social graph-as per traditional social apps-on algorithmic matching, hooks into your interests, whatever they may be, and aims to keep you scrolling, based on an unknown range of entity matching processes.

Which is perhaps objectionable for all users, but this new grievance specifically focuses on youths, whom the relevant attorneys general believe are much worse off under the relevant systems of TikTok.

The complaint by the District of Columbia goes further still, holding that TikTok is running a "virtual strip club", given its mechanism of making in-app purchases to reward creators using TikTok Coins.

Really, the main point of their argument is rather close to the case against Meta that was first filed in 2023, when a coalition of 42 attorneys general brought legal action against the company, accusing it of using "addictive processes" to hook young users onto their apps.

Utah has even taken the company to court, this time charging TikTok based on its algorithmic sorting. Arkansas sued both Facebook and TikTok on mental health and privacy grounds.
Cases of this nature are often filed regularly, some even settling in fines and settlements. Most, however, lead to further escalations and calls for further action by Congress.

Indeed, just last month, a coalition of more than 40 state attorneys general demanded Congress approve safety labels on social media platforms, with warnings of their potential risks to children.
 
Ordinarily, though, Congress hasn't been particularly swift in response to such cases. The reasons have included political disagreement, lack of legal specificity in each case, and/or failure to attract enough majority support.
 
Will this one be different?
And finally, TikTok is also in for a complete ban in the US, pertaining to concerns associated with the Chinese government, assuming that it does indeed have ties. For now, TikTok is working out its appeal process pertaining to the bill that had passed from the U.S. Senate and that President Joe Biden has also signed, but of course, that will happen.

Unless the former president is restored next month. The ex-head of state has vowed to "save TikTok" if he regains office, perhaps TikTok's best chance at staying in the United States.

And if that happens, then perhaps this new case will prove to be one of the challenges to the app, but likely be put on the backburner until the ultimate fate of the app is determined to do anything else.