New York alleges TikTok gave teens, children a placebo safety feature instead of a real one

New York has filed a lawsuit against the social media giant TikTok, alleging the company provided teens and children with a non-functional safety feature, instead of an actual tool to refresh their recommendation feeds, during a recent experiment. Reuters reveals that the experiment involved thousands of users, many of whom were minors, who had enabled the "Algo Refresh" feature, designed to reset their suggestions and prevent unwanted or harmful content from appearing on their feeds.

However, users participating in the test did not experience the recommended changes, unlike those who were not part of the trial and had full access to the functional version of the tool. New York's legal action is among more than twenty-four cases filed by various states, accusing TikTok of intentionally designing its platform to foster addictive usage among children and misleading users about its safety measures.

In response to these allegations, TikTok asserts that they continuously enhance their platform, regularly testing new features and products to gauge their impact and effectiveness. The social media company declined to provide further comment on the matter. The lawsuit also alleges that TikTok executed other experiments, as reported by Bloomberg in June, wherein they withheld a safety feature from 15 million U.S. users, including a teenager who subsequently took their own life.