In 2019, TikTok announced a “formal relationship” with the National Parent Teacher Association, which describes itself as the largest child advocacy group in America. They published a TikTok Guide for Parents packed with instructions on “digital safety” and how to “decide the best experience for your family.”
What TikTok did not say, lawsuits filed against the company allege, was that internal documents had begun to reveal that the company knew its technology was harming kids—the short-form video app’s target audience. Between 2018 and 2024, for example, the company allegedly heard from users and parents who described TikTok as “addictive,” “like crystal meth,” and “ruining” kids’ ability to pay attention or sleep.
In 2021, TikTok’s own Trust and Safety team concluded that “compulsive usage” of the app “correlates with a slew of negative mental effects” and worsens “preexisting mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety,” a court filing claims. The filing also says the team found the risk of users being driven into algorithmic silos involving suicide and self-harm material was “HIGH.”
