CBS News
Nebraska sues TikTok for allegedly targeting minors with “addictive design” and “fueling a youth mental health crisis”
Nebraska is sueing social media giant TikTok and its parent company ByteDance, claiming the platform targets minors with “addictive design” and is “fueling a youth mental health crisis.”
“TikTok has shown no regard for the wreckage its exploitative algorithm is leaving behind,” Attorney General Mike Hilgers said in a statement.
The lawsuit, filed in state court Wednesday, claims the platform engages in “deceptive and unfair trade practices” by claiming it is “family-friendly” and “safe for young users.”
The lawsuit alleges TikTok does not adhere to its own Community Guidelines, which states the platform does not allow “content that may put young people at risk.” The platform has also spent millions on advertising stating it’s suitable for young people, the complaint alleges, and representatives of TikTok have testified repeatedly the company monitors for harmful content and removes content that risks harm to minors or otherwise violates the Community Guidelines.
But the lawsuit alleges the opposite is true and that teens and children are shown inappropriate content based on the platform’s algorithm and “addictive design.”
As part of its investigation, Nebraska created TikTok accounts for fictitious minor users registered as 13, 15, and 17 years old, the lawsuit said. Within minutes, the lawsuit claims, the teen users were directed to inappropriate content by the TikTok algorithm, including videos described in graphic detail in the lawsuit as simulating sexual acts and encouraging eating disorders.
Much of the content pushed to minors is encouraged by the “For You” feed, the lawsuit claims, which shows users the alleged inappropriate content without them searching for similar videos. Instead, the video just pops into minors’ feeds uninvited, the lawsuit claims.
Hilgers said kids are shown “inappropriate content, ranging from videos that encourage suicidal ideation and fuel depression, drive body image issues, and encourage eating disorders to those that encourage drug use and sexual content wildly inappropriate for young kids.”
These interactions have fueled “a youth mental health crisis in Nebraska,” the lawsuit said.
TikTok refutes the allegations.
“TikTok has industry-leading safeguards to support teens’ well-being, including age-restricted features, parental controls, an automatic 60-minute time limit for people under 18, and more. We will continue working to address these industry-wide concerns,” a company spokesperson told CBS News in a statement.
Nebraska’s lawsuit comes as TikTok battles the U.S. government over recent legislation requiring the platform to cut ties with its China-based owner within a year or be effectively banned from the United States.
TikTok said in a lawsuit filed earlier this month that banning the popular social media platform would violate the First Amendment rights of its users. Eight TikToker users — with millions of followers between them — filed a similar suit against the federal government last week.
More than 30 states and the federal government have banned the app on state- or government-issued devices. Montana became the first state to ban the app last May, a few months later a federal judge overturned the ruling, in part because the ban “infringes on the Constitutional rights of users and businesses.”
— Melissa Quinn and C. Mandler contributed reporting.
There were no injuries after a Southwest flight carrying passengers was struck by gunfire on the tarmac of Dallas Love Field Friday night, authorities said.
Southwest Airlines Flight 2494 was preparing for departure to Indianapolis when “a bullet apparently struck the right side of the aircraft under the flight deck,” a Southwest spokesperson told CBS News in a statement.
The airline said no one was hurt. A spokesperson for Dallas Love Field said in an email that the aircraft returned to its gate after sustaining damage from a “security incident” and the passengers deplaned. The runway was also temporarily closed, but has since reopened.
Dallas police confirmed the incident, saying that officers responded to reports of gunfire at 9:48 p.m. local time, arriving to find that the aircraft had been struck.
No further details were provided on the circumstances of the incident or what was the potential source of the gunfire. It’s unclear how many people were aboard the jet at the time, or how much damage the aircraft sustained.
In its own statement provided to CBS News, the Federal Aviation Administration said that the plane “was reportedly struck by gunfire near the cockpit.”
Dallas police are leading the investigation into the incident.
Earlier this week, gunfire amid ongoing gang violence struck three planes that were either landing or departing Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince. The shootings prompted the FAA to issue a 30-day ban on U.S. airlines flying to Haiti.
Social media star Jake Paul defeated boxing legend Mike Tyson in a highly anticipated fight with an age difference of over three decades between the two contenders. The Friday night win for the YouTuber-turned-pro-boxer was streamed on Netflix from the home of the Dallas Cowboys in Texas.
Paul defeated Tyson by an unanimous decision after the two fighters went eight full rounds.
Fight night for the 58-year-old Tyson and 27-year-old Paul came following doubts over whether it would happen at all. The fight was originally scheduled for July, but was postponed after the former heavyweight champion experienced an ulcer flare-up on a plane in May.
A different kind of flare-up happened during the official weigh-in Thursday with Tyson slapping Paul in the face. Tyson later told the New York Post that Paul had stepped on his toe when the two were toe to toe onstage.
Getty Images
What is Jake Paul’s fight record?
With the win, Paul’s record improved to 11-1.
Was Jake Paul predicted to win?
Oddsmakers had Paul as the slight favorite to win. Former heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua also went with Paul.
How much prize money does Jake Paul win?
Paul was expected to earn about $40 million from the fight, according to DraftKings Network and other online sources.
Promoters didn’t reveal the payouts ahead of the bout. Paul is a co-founder of Most Valuable Promotions, which produced the fight.
Does Mike Tyson still get paid?
Tyson was expected to take home around $20 million for the fight, according to DraftKings and other online reports.
Tyson entered professional boxing in 1985 and became the youngest heavyweight champion in history a year later. After serving time for a rape conviction in the 1990s, Tyson won the World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association titles.
He retired from boxing in 2005 and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2011. He last fought in a 2020 exhibition match against former four-division world champ Roy Jones Jr.
“He like put on another 20 pounds from when I fought him, so he’s more bigger and he’s more dangerous because more size, more power, so it’s going to be a tough one for Jake to climb,” Jones told CBS News ahead of the fight.
Anne Marie Lee and
contributed to this report.
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.