- A New Hampshire court rejected TikTok’s request to dismiss a case accusing it of using manipulative design features aimed at kids.
- The state alleges TikTok is intentionally designed to be addictive and aims to exploit its young user base.
- President Donald Trump has granted ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, a third extension on time to sell off its U.S. TikTok operations.
A judge this week rejected
TikTok
‘s attempt to dismiss a lawsuit by the state of New Hampshire accusing it of using manipulative design features aimed at children and teens.
Stream San Diego News for free, 24/7, wherever you are with NBC 7.
“The Court’s decision is an important step toward holding TikTok accountable for unlawful practices that put children at risk,” state
Attorney General
John Formella said in a statement Friday.
In his ruling Tuesday, New Hampshire
Superior Court
Judge John Kissinger Jr. said the state’s allegations were valid and specific enough to proceed, writing the civil claims were “based on the App’s alleged defective and dangerous features” and not the content in the app.
Get top local San Diego stories delivered to you every morning with our News Headlines newsletter.
The state alleges that
social media
platform TikTok is intentionally designed to be addictive and aims to exploit its young user base.
The suit accuses the platform of implementing “addictive design features” meant to keep children engaged longer, increasing their exposure to advertisements and prompting purchases through TikTok’s e-commerce platform TikTok Shop.
TikTok declined to comment.
Money Report
Tron’s Justin Sun says he’s buying another $100 million of Trump’s memecoin
Mark Cuban: I use AI daily ‘for everything,’ from monitoring my health to writing code—but ‘you’ve got to be careful’
The case is the latest example of attorneys general targeting design elements and safety policies from tech companies instead of the content on the platforms, which is created by other users.
-
Perplexity launches AI-powered web browser for select group of subscribers
-
Retailers log $7.9 billion in online sales in first 24 hours of Prime Day
-
Linda Yaccarino steps down as CEO of Elon Musk’s X
-
Elon Musk’s Grok AI chatbot denies that it praised Hitler and made antisemitic comments
Meta was accused by several states of implementing
addictive
features across its family of apps that have detrimental effects on children’s mental health.
New Mexico filed a lawsuit against
Snapchat
in September, alleging the app was creating an environment where “predators can easily target
children
through sextortion schemes.”
In April, social-messaging platform
Discord
was sued by the New Jersey attorney general over misleading consumers about child safety features.
Congress has attempted to take action on regulating
social media
platforms, but to no avail. The
Kids Online Safety Act
was reintroduced to Congress in May after stalling in 2024.
The measure would require social media platforms to have a “duty of care” to prevent their products from harming children.
TikTok’s latest legal hurdle comes as its future in the U.S. remains uncertain.
In April 2024, former President
Joe Biden
signed a law requiring ByteDance to divest of TikTok or see the app
banned
in the U.S. The app was removed from
Apple
and
app stores
in January ahead of President
Donald Trump
‘s inauguration.
Since taking office, Trump has postponed enforcement of the ban and continued to push back deadlines.
In June, Trump granted
ByteDance
more time to sell off its U.S. TikTok operations, marking his third extension. The updated deadline is now set for Sept. 17.
Trump also said in June that a group of “very wealthy people” is ready to buy TikTok and told reporters that he would be having discussions with China about a potential deal.
TikTok is now building a new version of its app for U.S. users, according to
The Information
. The stand-alone app is expected to operate on a separate algorithm and data system,
Reuters
said.
TikTok refuted the Reuters report, calling it ”
factually inaccurate
.”
-
Morgan Stanley says buy these five stocks that are set to rally
-
Amazon shares form ‘golden cross’ as Prime Day kicks off
-
Investors expect bitcoin to break out to new records in the second half from a consolidation phase
-
Goldman Sachs says these buy-rated stocks offer solid dividends
Also on CNBC
-
Nvidia’s Jensen Huang sells $36 million in stock, catches Buffett in net worth
-
Tesla to officially launch in India with planned showroom opening
-
Bitcoin flies to new all-time highs, topping $118,000
