Seven French families have filed a lawsuit against TikTok, accusing the platform of exposing their adolescent children to harmful content that led to two of them taking their own lives at 15, their lawyer said.
The lawsuit alleges TikTok’s algorithm exposed the seven teenagers to videos promoting suicide, self-harm and eating disorders, lawyer Laure Boutron-Marmion told broadcaster Franceinfo on Monday.
The families are taking joint legal action in the Créteil judicial court in Paris. Boutron-Marmion said it was the first such grouped case in Europe.
“The parents want TikTok’s legal liability to be recognised in court,” she said, adding: “This is a commercial company offering a product to consumers who are, in addition, minors. They must, therefore, answer for the product’s shortcomings.”
TikTok, like other social media platforms, has long faced scrutiny over the policing of content on its app.
As with Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, it faces hundreds of lawsuits in the US accusing it of enticing and addicting millions of children to its platform, damaging their mental health.
Last month, more than a dozen states and the District of Columbia filed lawsuits against the Chinese-owned company, alleging it is damaging children’s mental health with a product designed to be used compulsively and excessively.
Responding to the lawsuits, a TikTok spokesperson said: “We strongly disagree with these claims, many of which we believe to be inaccurate and misleading.”
The company has said previously it took issues that were linked to children’s mental health seriously.
Its chief executive, Shou Zi Chew, this year told US lawmakers the company had invested in measures to protect young people who use the app.
Reuters contributed to this article
In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
