Hawaii has joined 46 states in asking a state court to order social media company TikTok Inc. to fully comply with an ongoing investigation into whether the company engaged in deceptive, unfair and unconscionable conduct that harmed the mental health of TikTok users, particularly children and teens.
Despite the request for communications authorized by the investigative authority of the state attorneys general and the Office of Consumer Protection, the states argue that TikTok repeatedly and knowingly failed to preserve relevant information and failed to provide internal communications in a useful format.
“The use of social media platforms is a significant contributor to the ongoing youth mental health crisis affecting our keiki, particularly among our girls and young women,” Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez said in a recent release from Gov. Josh Green’s office. “I have grave concerns about TikTok’s role in this crisis, and TikTok’s refusal to comply in good faith with an investigation involving a bipartisan coalition of all 50 states, only causes my concerns to deepen. TikTok should be held accountable.”
Lopez said TikTok continues to allow employees to send automatically deleting messages over the Lark platform since the start of the investigation and has provided messages to the states in a format that is difficult to use and navigate.
“TikTok is actively choosing not to use tools that may help prevent mental health issues associated with excessive use of the platform,” Mana Moriarty, executive director of the Office of Consumer Protection, said in the release. “And now TikTok is attempting to delay a bipartisan multistate investigation into what it knew, and when it knew it. It’s past time that TikTok should be held to account for its conduct.”
Peer-reviewed research shows social media platforms, especially image- and video-based platforms like TikTok, “are playing a substantial role in harming youth mental health,” the release said.
In February, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released findings showing that nearly one-third of teen girls seriously considered suicide in 2021, a nearly 60% increase from a decade prior. Other peer-reviewed research showed that increased teen social media use is a significant driver of this crisis.