Par negligence, would TikTok promote the appearance of anxiety, depressive and eating disorders in children and, even, cause their suicide? For seven families, united within a collective called Algos Victima, the answer is unequivocal: “The responsibility of TikTok is beyond doubt,” maintains Me Laure Boutron-Marmion, family lawyer. Monday, November 4, for the first time in Europe, these families took TikTok to court.
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They accuse the Chinese social network and its most opaque algorithm of creating toxic habits, by exposing their children, even their very young children, to deadly content, promoting suicide, self-mutilation, depression or even eating disorders, also causing severe psychological disorders. Among the seven teenagers concerned, two 15-year-olds committed suicide, four attempted to end their lives and one suffered from anorexia nervosa.
“TikTok is not 100% responsible, but they participated in it”
Delphine and Jérémy are part of this collective of parents. In 2023, their daughter Charlize, then aged 15, committed suicide. “TikTok is not 100% responsible for the death of our daughter, but, in any case, it is certain, he participated in it,” says the teenager’s father.
Charlize began to be harassed by a classmate when she started fifth grade. Aged 12 at the time, the teenager scarified herself and developed eating disorders. The following year, Charlize's school bullying continued and she attempted suicide for the first time in January 2022. She was then transferred from school to no longer be confronted with her harassers, but her psychological state required further treatment. two and a half month hospitalization in child psychiatry.
ALSO READ Hospitalized in psychiatry, these young people confide on social networksWhen she left the hospital in May 2022, she attempted suicide again. Then, once again in January 2023. “At the same time, since the start of her harassment, Charlize had taken refuge a lot on her phone,” says Delphine, the mother. She was on TikTok a lot and we thought it was to watch comedy videos. So we let him do it, saying that it would take his mind off things. But the more time passed, the more addicted she became. » Deprived and not knowing what was good for their daughter, Charlize's parents let her use TikTok.
“And then, November 22, 2023… well there you go…” Delphine slips with difficulty. That day, Charlize, 15, took her own life.
“It seems that the night brings advice; For me, she advised me to take a rope stool”
“The day after her death, we were invited to the parents of one of her best friends. And we were shown a video that Charlize had reposted the day before her suicide on her TikTok. There we saw a girl who was filming herself and who had written: “It seems that the night brings advice; She advised me to take a stool with a rope.” There, I didn’t understand,” says Jérémy.
ALSO READ “There is a seasonality of suicidal attempts” Charlize's parents gradually discovered that their daughter was sharing and consuming many videos on TikTok related to depression, suicide or self-harm. “There were videos on how to remove a pencil sharpener blade for scarification purposes, videos on advice for suicide attempts…” remembers Delphine. “They were suicide propaganda videos,” says Jérémy. They then understood the impact that TikTok had on the death of their daughter and decided to attack the Chinese platform: “We want TikTok to recognize its share of responsibility in the death of our daughter. »
“I didn’t understand where she got all this information from”
Gaëlle joined this fight. Her daughter, now 15 years old, whose first name remains hidden for reasons of anonymity, suffered from serious eating disorders, also partly caused by TikTok, according to her parents.
“As soon as my daughter got a phone in fifth grade, she got on TikTok. But on this application, she later told us that she watched a lot of videos of people about discomfort and who talked about scarification or anorexia. She was then 12 years old. »
ALSO READ INVESTIGATION. The anxious, poorly silent school refusal of an anxious generationIt was at this age that the young girl began to scarify herself. Then the following year, she attempted suicide. “How could a child of this age know that ten paracetamol tablets could be a lethal dose? She told us more and more stories of anorexia, suicide, psychological illnesses, under the guise of wanting to become a child psychiatrist. But I didn’t understand where she got all this information from,” says Gaëlle.
Then, in third grade, the young girl sank into anorexia. “It was a descent into hell: she lost more than 15 kilos in five months, with a weight presenting a life-threatening risk. » Gaëlle's daughter was then admitted to a hospital specializing in the treatment of anorexia in Paris and was hospitalized for many months. After a visit to a clinic of the French Student Health Foundation (FSEF), the young girl was able to resume classes. She is now in second grade. “Knock on wood, but she is doing much better and seems out of the woods,” says her mother.
“There is an urgent need to protect children from these algorithms”
For Gaëlle too, her daughter's heavy use of TikTok and these toxic videos had a link to her psychological disorders. “There is an urgent need to raise awareness and protect children from these harmful algorithms,” she maintains.
ALSO READ “Destigmatizing mental health is a top priority”
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This is how these families launched their fight against the Chinese platform. “TikTok now offers a tool to these users whose content is harmful, absolutely not moderated or censored, so that today the dissemination of this content directly affects the health of young people. TikTok must be found responsible for this fault,” declares lawyer Me Laure Boutron-Marmion. According to her, between the “failure” of moderation and the addictive nature of the application, this network becomes “eminently dangerous” for children confronted with this content.
And since the launch of this legal procedure, around twenty other families have come forward to the collective, according to the lawyer. As for the judicial agenda, Mr.e Laure Boutron-Marmion is banking on an audience around 2026.
