Alabama vs. TikTok – Prince Glover Hayes Takes Legal Action to Protect Kids

The State of Alabama filed a lawsuit against TikTok Inc., and its parent company ByteDance Inc. Prince Glover Hayes is honored to provide support and representation in this important case, which we are pursuing alongside Attorney General Steve Marshall, and other prestigious legal partners.

The lawsuit targets TikTok’s deceptive practices, addiction-based design, and its failure to protect young users in Alabama – which are having a devastating impact on our youths.

The objective: Protecting Alabama’s youth

The lawsuit addresses the design of TikTok, which uses an algorithm that is meant to cause addictive gambling-like behaviors, and pushes harmful content to young users in order to maintain engagement.

“TikTok preys on young people,” said Attorney General Marshall, “feeding them dangerous and damaging content while lying to parents about how safe the app really is.”

The company profits from this harmful behavior, at the expense of Alabama’s youths.

What makes TikTok’s algorithm so dangerous?

The goal of TikTok’s addictive algorithm is to keep users — especially minors — endlessly scrolling. Content the app pushes to achieve this is often:

• Sexually explicit
• Violent or promoting self-harm
• Drug, alcohol, and tobacco related

The app also exposes children to “viral challenges” that often endanger the physical and mental well-being of young people.

The overall experience is similar to a  “sophisticated gambling machine,” which cultivates compulsive use. And the target audience is children and teens.

Deceptive marketing and age ratings

TikTok markets itself as safe for children and teens. On Apple’s App Store, it has a 12+ rating, and on Google Play, it’s rated “Teen.” However, these ratings are misleading. The content on the app is often more mature, and yet, the ratings falsely indicate to parents that TikTok is safe for their children to download.

Additionally, the app targets youths. For instance, as stated in the Complaint, in “2019, 80% of TikTok ad spending was on Snap (a.k.a. Snapchat), an instant messaging app that reaches 90% of thirteen- to twenty-four-year-olds in the U.S.”

“Safety features” that fail to protect

TikTok does have a Restricted Mode and Kids Mode. Those settings, however, are central to the lawsuit as they are easily bypassed by minors. They also do very little to filter out adult content from the video feeds.

As AG Marshall puts it, “TikTok’s so-called ‘safety features’ are a joke… a marketing ploy to trick parents.”

ByteDance’s unequal safeguards: U.S. vs. China

Unlike the predatory and harmful approach TikTok and ByteDance take in the US, the app has real protections for minors in China to protect against harmful content and addictive algorithms. For instance, in China ByteDance limits access for minors to 40 minutes per day and no one under 18 can access livestreams.

There are no such protections for American youths – and the compliant highlights the company’s glaring double standards, which show that TikTok knows how to create safeguards, but refuses to apply them for US-based users.

Data collection and exploitation concerns

The app also collects sensitive data from young people, including:

• User behavior
• Location and device information

TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is a Chinese corporation, which means that by law, it must share user data with the Chinese government. This policy suggests that the app could be engaging in potential espionage and exploitation of US users.

Prince Glover Hayes: Fighting for Alabama’s future

Prince Glover Hayes is committed to protecting Alabama families by holding TikTok and ByteDance accountable for their actions.

“TikTok claims to be safe for teens and preteens,” said partner Josh Hayes, “but this is simply not true.”

Hayes, along with PGH partners Matt Glover and Blake Williams, are proud to help lead this fight, along with some of our dedicated colleagues from the Alabama AG’s Office and the Beasley Allen firm.

What Alabama is seeking in court

The primary goal of this lawsuit is to safeguard the state’s youths. As such, the complaint is seeking preliminary and permanent injunctions to stop misleading and harmful conduct. Additionally, the case is seeking civil penalties under the Alabama Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The complaint asks for an award of compensatory and punitive damages for harm caused by TikTok’s negligence and intentional practices.

Why this case matters

This case is important for the state, but also beyond Alabama’s borders. Some statistics indicate that over 1/3 of TikTok’s daily US users are 14 or younger. Additionally, officials from the company stated that “an estimated 95% of smartphone users under 17 use TikTok at least once a month.” These numbers show the widespread use of the app, which is causing serious consequences for the mental health and safety of young people.

Some independent researchers have even suggested that a person can become addicted to the app in just over a half hour – indicating how effective it is at capturing the attention and minds of young people. Researchers have found “potential negative effects on teens, such as lower life satisfaction, increased risk of “contagion” of certain psychiatric symptoms, and problematic usage patterns,” associated specifically with TikTok.

Reports show that the app promotes violence, suicide, incel behavior, and drugs. Families have sued the app over the deaths of their children by suicide. The algorithm appears to push suicide-promoting content to vulnerable children – and despite these tragedies, the app continues to promote this content.

The State of Alabama, with Prince Glover Hayes by its side, is now stepping up to demand accountability and reform to protect the state’s children and families.

Fighting for Alabama’s future

This lawsuit isn’t about politics – it’s about protecting children. Families deserve transparency when it comes to the technology and applications that companies promote to children. At Prince Glover Hayes, we are proud to stand with the State and the people of Alabama in this critical legal battle. You can read the full complaint here. To get in touch with Prince Glover Hayes, fill out our form or call us today.