TikTok provided thousands of users, including teenagers and children, with a safety tool that didn’t work, according to a newly unsealed filing in the New York lawsuit. Reuters reported the allegations on Oct. 7, after a judge ordered the filings unsealed. They appear in an amended complaint filed by New York Attorney General Letitia Jamesin late August.
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The feature under investigation, Algo Refresh, allows users to reset their recommendations to avoid unwanted or harmful videos. The complaint alleges that during testing in 2023, some users received a fake tool. Those users believed the tool was working, but their feeds remained unchanged. The complaint also says that the tests looked at how the feature affected time spent on the app and ad sales. Essentially, it alleges that the reset TikTok offered didn’t last.
This case highlights serious issues regarding the transparency and security of technological tools offered by major social media platforms. Algo Refresh was supposed to give users control over the content they see, offering a safer and more personalized experience. However, the tool’s failure to work as promised raises questions about the credibility of the company’s statements to its users.
According to the filing, a product manager from TikTok’s Digital Wellbeing team expressed concerns about the testing in an internal chat. “This feature is about transparency and algorithm control,” the manager wrote. “A team with a pseudo-tool is completely at odds with that.” The statement underscores the company’s own internal acknowledgement of the problems, which bolsters the Attorney General’s allegations.
A TikTok spokesperson told Reuters that the company is often testing new products and features. The spokesperson also said the lawsuit misrepresents how Algo Refresh works. Ultimately, TikTok broadly denied the New York charges in court.
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The unsealed documents also include another TikTok test, first reported by Bloomberg in August. TikTok failed to provide a security update to about 10% of its U.S. users, about 15 million people. A 16-year-old from New York in that group committed suicide in 2022 after watching content about self-harm and suicide.
This tragic incident adds weight to the charges, as it shows the potentially devastating consequences of the failure of security tools.
Following Bloomberg’s report, Senators Marsha Blackburn and Richard Blumenthal sent TikTok 13 written questions about the test. Attorney General James first sued TikTok in October 2024, along with 14 other state attorneys general. Her initial complaint alleged that the company lied about how secure its tools were, including a feature called Refresh.
More than 24 states have now sued TikTok, saying it made its app addictive to children. The accusation reflects a broader concern about how social media platforms are affecting the mental health of young people. In September, the company agreed to pay Alabama up to $300 million to settle that state’s case, the first to go to trial.
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This case is part of a broader debate about the responsibility of technology companies to protect their users, especially the most vulnerable, such as children and teenagers. As social media platforms continue to expand and affect the lives of millions of people, the need for stricter regulations and greater transparency becomes increasingly urgent.
