Schwalb's suit alleges a slew of "profound" mental health risks are posed to teens and children by compulsive TikTok use, including depression, anxiety, sleep loss and body dysmorphia.
"TikTok knows that its design features make its App more addictive and keep users engaged for longer," the suit in D.C. Superior Court alleges.
The complaint also says that in 2019, the company introduced "two new dangerous features": a live-streaming feature called TikTok LIVE and a virtual currency system called TikTok "Coins."
TikTok incentivizes users to go LIVE by promising these monetary rewards 'the more popular [their] content becomes.'"
The suit says that TikTok "earns substantial revenue" from its Coins, charging commissions of up to 50% on each transaction.
Persons:
ByteDance, Brian Schwalb, Schwalb, TikTok
Organizations:
U.S . House, District of Columbia, CNBC, Washington , D.C, NHL's Washington Capitals hockey, Schwalb, AGs, Senate
Locations:
TikTok, Culver City , California, New York, California, U.S, D.C, Los Angeles, Washington ,, United States, China, Beijing