‘We are concerned’: Colorado Attorney General takes TikTok to court alongside 45 other states
COLORADO (KRDO) -- Colorado is leading a multi-state investigation into TikTok, to see if the company is violating consumer protection laws by presenting harmful material to kids.
"We are concerned, along with almost every other state in the nation, that TikTok is engaging in behavior, that is harming our young people's mental health," said Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser.
TikTok users can watch dance videos, learn recipes, follow workout tips and find a plethora of other content inside the app. Though its relatively new to the world of social media, it takes up a large percentage of teenage scrolling time.
"The statistics about how much time young people are spending on their phones on apps is harrowing," said Weiser.
According to Pew Research Center, 58% of teens scroll through TikTok daily, and 19% of teens say they're on the app constantly.
Weiser said the multi-state investigation into the company aims to discover what's happening during all of those minutes spent scrolling.
"I'm a parent of two teenagers. I know that social media poses real threats to our kids mental health," said Weiser.
Weiser is leading the charge for Colorado, alongside Tennessee and 44 other states, to make sure TikTok isn't abusing its power through internal messaging.
"When you search for a video, say you're a young girl, about how to lose weight and you get videos about self-harm or encouraging suicide, that's a real concern to us," said Weiser.
The 46 states filed a motion, requesting information from TikTok, to see whether TikTok's algorithms are presenting dangerous materials to young users.
"We need information to help us analyze this work, and we're asking TikTok for the information," said Weiser. "They haven't given it. We're taking them to court."
Weiser said they will form an action plan moving forward based on what evidence their investigation finds, but there is no concrete timeline for when parents or users might see changes.
