TikTok is currently facing Lawsuits from 14 states claims that the platform is harming the mental health of young users, and they’re not the only ones who think so. It turns out that Apple specifically pushed TikTok to raise its age recommendation from 12 and up to 17 and up. The Washington Post reports. The comments from Apple appeared in South Carolina, according to TikTok, and should have been redacted, but were accidentally made public.
Let’s dive right in, shall we? In 2022, Apple had a team review TikTok’s age rating and found that the platform had “frequent or intense adult or suggestive content.” Apple added: “We hope you will consider making the necessary changes to comply with the App Store Review Guidelines and resubmit.” We don’t know all the details of what Apple is asking for, as only some of the redacted content has been made public.
However, there is currently plenty of evidence in unredacted documents that TikTok is not age appropriate. In fact, outsiders and TikTok’s own employees have taken issue with what the company is doing to tone down content like swearing and eating disorders. The former was found in one in every 50 pop-up alerts that minors received in a month in the US and UK. Reportable Tech, an advocacy group, accidentally found the public information and shared it with him The Post.
Incidentally public portions of South Carolina’s complaint further alleged that TikTok was trying to “take advantage of goodwill in its lobbying efforts” by donating to organizations like parent-teacher associations. The company also sponsored events for politicians, such as one for the foundation of South Carolina Democratic Representative James E. Clyburn, former majority whip of the House of Representatives. Note that Clyburn joined the minority In voting against selling or banning TikTok in the US.
Not surprisingly, TikTok was not too happy about this information being made public (everything is now behind black marks). TikTok spokesperson Alex Haurek called the publication of the redacted information irresponsible, claiming that “many of these issues have already been resolved” and that the company has “always implemented strict policies against nudity, sexually explicit content and solicitations.”
South Carolina isn’t the only state with an apparent editorial error in the lawsuit. Incidental public records of Kentucky It found that TikTok “was associated with a number of negative mental health effects, including loss of analytical skills, memory formation, contextual thinking, conversational depth, empathy, and increased anxiety.” TikTok also reportedly knows its time limit tool will not be effective for minors (average daily use decreased by one and a half minutes after implementation). Then there was another paper that claimed that “at most icon sizes, the younger the user, the better the performance.” Don’t you just love it when companies have the best interests of their users in mind?
