French Families sue Tik Tok over alleged lack of removal of harmful content
By Alimat Aliyeva
Seven French families have filed a lawsuit against the social media giant TikTok. They accuse the platform of exposing their teenage children to harmful content, which led to the suicides of two of them at the age of 15, Azernews reports.
The lawsuit alleges that the TikTok algorithm exposed seven teenagers to videos encouraging suicide, self-harm, and eating disorders, according to a lawyer's interview with a local TV channel.
The families are taking joint legal action in the court of Créteil, 11.5 km from Paris. L. Boutron-Marmion noted that this is the first such group case in Europe.
"The parents want TikTok's legal liability to be recognized in court. It is a commercial company offering a product to consumers who are also minors, and they should therefore be responsible for the shortcomings of the product," she added.
Like other social media platforms, TikTok has long faced criticism regarding its content moderation practices.
Instagram, Facebook, and Meta have been the subjects of hundreds
of lawsuits in the United States, accusing them of seducing
millions of children and fostering dependence on social platforms
that harm their mental health.
The company has previously stated that it takes children's mental
health issues seriously. The CEO of TikTok, Zee Chu, told U.S.
lawmakers this year that the company has invested in measures to
protect young people using the app.
Here we are to serve you with news right now. It does not cost much, but worth your attention.
Choose to support open, independent, quality journalism and subscribe on a monthly basis.
By subscribing to our online newspaper, you can have full digital access to all news, analysis, and much more.
You can also follow AzerNEWS on Twitter @AzerNewsAz or Facebook @AzerNewsNewspaper
Thank you!