The popular social network TikTok will have to be held accountable in France after being accused by seven families of exposing teenagers to harmful content, leading to the suicides of two of them.
“Parents want TikTok’s legal responsibility to be recognized in court. This is a commercial company offering a product to consumers who are also minors. They must therefore answer for the defects of the product,” the group’s lawyer, Laure Boutron-Marmion, insisted on Monday on the France Info radio channel, according to CNN.
The seven French families would have joined with one voice to file a legal action against the Chinese social network TikTok, particularly popular with young people, alleging that it was the cause of the deaths of two teenagers.
Because, according to them, the TikTok algorithm would have exposed their seven teenagers to videos promoting suicide, self-harm and eating disorders, to the point of causing the suicide of two of the seven young people, indicated the American media.
According to their lawyer, this would be the first case of a consolidated lawsuit of this kind filed in Europe, while lawsuits against web giants are increasing in the United States, in particular to force them to take responsibility for their impact on the mental health of young people.
Among the social networks concerned, the company Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, alone faces hundreds of lawsuits accusing it of making millions of children addicted to its platforms, according to CNN.
Contacted by the American media, TikTok did not respond to the interview request, but the company previously indicated that it took these mental health issues among children seriously.
Its CEO, Shou Zi Chew, also declared having invested in measures aimed at protecting young people who use the application, according to CNN.
