French families sue TikTok over alleged failure to remove harmful content
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The lawsuit alleges TikTok’s algorithm exposed seven teenagers to videos promoting suicide, self-harm and eating disorders. Two of the teens took their own lives at the age of 15.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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PARIS - Seven French families have filed a lawsuit against social media giant TikTok, accusing the platform of exposing their adolescent children to harmful content that led to two of them taking their own lives at the age of 15, their lawyer said on Nov 4.
The lawsuit alleges that TikTok’s algorithm exposed the seven teenagers to videos promoting suicide, self-harm and eating disorders, lawyer Laure Boutron-Marmion told broadcaster Franceinfo.
The families are taking joint legal action in the Creteil judicial court. Ms Boutron-Marmion said it was the first such grouped case in Europe.
“The parents want TikTok’s legal liability to be recognised in court,” she said. “This is a commercial company offering a product to consumers who are, in addition, minors. They must, therefore, answer for the product’s shortcomings.”
TikTok, like other social media platforms, has long faced scrutiny over the policing of content on its app.
As with Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, it faces hundreds of lawsuits in the US accusing it of enticing and addicting millions of children to its platform, damaging their mental health.
TikTok could not immediately be reached for comment on the allegations.
The company has previously said it took issues that were linked to children’s mental health seriously. Chief executive Chew Shou Zi in 2024 told US lawmakers that the company has invested in measures to protect young people who use the app. REUTERS
