West Virginia Sues TikTok, Says the App Puts Mountain State Kids at Risk

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia is taking on one of the biggest apps on the planet. Attorney General JB McCuskey filed a lawsuit Thursday, Oct. 29, against TikTok, accusing the company of breaking the state’s consumer protection laws through the way it designs and runs its app, and of putting Mountain State kids at risk in the process.

The complaint was filed in Kanawha County Circuit Court and names TikTok along with its parent company, ByteDance. At its heart is a claim plenty of West Virginia parents will recognize from their own living rooms: that the app is built to keep young teens scrolling as long as possible, without the safeguards underage users need and without telling families about the gaps.

“TikTok knowingly designed its app to keep young teens engaged for as long as possible while failing to put appropriate safeguards in place for underage users,” McCuskey said. “West Virginia parents should not have to compete with an algorithm built to keep their kids scrolling, while targeting them with sexualized content.”

Two test accounts, two very different feeds

According to the Attorney General’s Office, its Consumer Protection Division put the app to the test using two accounts: one registered to an adult and one registered to a 13-year-old girl. The office says the feeds looked nothing alike. The child’s account repeatedly received sexually suggestive content, while the adult’s account mostly got videos about everyday interests like home improvement and local restaurants.

The lawsuit also alleges the app’s features make children easy to find and contact, which the state says can open the door to predators. Officials argue a child’s public information can help someone pose as a peer, or a friend of a peer, and build trust with a young person before a parent ever knows something is wrong.

Why it hits home here

The complaint points to a West Virginia University study on TikTok and the mental health of West Virginia children. Researchers found that more frequent TikTok use was associated with more symptoms of depression.

The state says that is especially concerning in West Virginia, which had the nation’s highest estimated rate of children affected by opioid use in 2017. National research links difficult childhood experiences, including substance use at home, to persistent sadness, hopelessness and suicide risk among teenagers.

McCuskey was quick to say families still have a part to play. “Parents have a responsibility to monitor what their kids are doing online, absolutely,” he said. “But they are cut off at the knees when companies like TikTok do nothing to close safety loopholes and conceal risks of their platform from parents.”

What the state wants

The Attorney General’s Office is asking the court to order TikTok to pay restitution, give up money the state says was earned unfairly, and pay civil penalties along with attorneys’ fees and costs. It also wants a judge to require effective child predator detection and protections, and a safer product design going forward.

This isn’t the first time McCuskey’s office has gone after a tech company over kids’ safety. Earlier this month, the office sued OpenAI over what it calls a dangerous design. West Virginia was also among the states in a settlement with Meta that brought safety changes to teen accounts on Instagram and Facebook, and earlier this year the state reached a settlement with Roblox that included platform safety changes and funding for safety education for West Virginia parents, teachers and children.

The allegations in the lawsuit have not been proven in court. West Virginia Pulse will keep following the case as it moves forward.