Seven French families sue TikTok, this Monday, November 4, before the Créteil judicial court, via their lawyer, Laure Boutron-Marmion, according to franceinfo. The Algos Victima collective – within which the people involved in the procedure have grouped together – accuses the social network used by more than 21 million users in France of letting dangerous videos circulate on the platform.
The goal is to recognize the responsibility of the application in the deterioration of the mental and physical health of their children, explains the media. These are seven teenagers who, according to their families, fell into the trap of the algorithm. Two of them ended their lives when they were 15 years old. The parents of one of them, Marie, also filed a criminal complaint last year. Four of the seven teenagers attempted to end their lives, and one experienced problems with anorexia.
The promotion of suicide, self-harm or even eating disorders
Among the people leading the legal action, the media notably reports the testimony of Delphine, mother of Charlize. She explains that her daughter, a victim of harassment, took refuge on TikTok. She would then have searched for content linked to her discomfort and would have fallen “into a spiral”, denounces the mother.
Jérémy, Charlize’s father, agrees: “TikTok, the image I had of it, was dance videos, or makeup tutorials, but at no time did I tell myself that there were going to be videos that would explain how to take apart a blade on a pencil sharpener for making scarifications. It seemed inconceivable to me. »
As a result, videos promoting suicide, self-harm or even eating disorders are particularly denounced. For families, the social network made the serious mistake of not having moderated these types of content. They also accuse the leaders of the application of having been negligent by not putting in place any moderation system to protect minors. The collective also requests that a warning be put in place, warning against the addictive nature of the application.
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