TikTok was sued by a group of seven French families who blame the social network app for harming the mental health of their children, driving two of them to suicide.
The families, grouped in the association Algos Victima, filed their lawsuit at a court in Créteil, south east of Paris, according to a statement from their attorney Laure Boutron-Marmion.
“TikTok’s responsibility must be acknowledged by French judges,” Boutron-Marmion said. She pointed to the “deliberately addictive design” of the app and “a faulty algorithm” for regulating and moderating content promoting self-harm, suicide and eating disorders that makes such practices seem “trivial.”
A representative for TikTok in France didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
The French lawsuit adds to a series of legal actions in the US amid growing concerns about the app’s effects on children. Owned by Chinese internet company ByteDance Ltd., TikTok is seen by several studies as addictive and pushing potentially harmful content to vulnerable users. The app is also facing a potential ban in the US over Chinese ownership concerns.
Photograph: Signage outside TikTok Inc. offices in Culver City, California, US, on Wednesday, March 20, 2024. Photo credit: Bing Guan/Bloomberg
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