Mar. 8—New Hampshire's attorney general has joined 46 other attorneys general in asking a state court to order Chinese-owned social media app TikTok to comply with an ongoing investigation into whether the company violated consumer protection laws.
On Monday, the group demanded that TikTok produce subpoenaed materials, including internal company communications. as part of an ongoing nationwide consumer protection investigation into whether the company engaged in deceptive conduct that may have harmed the mental health of users of the popular social media app, especially children and teens,
"Protecting our young people, especially their mental health, is crucial, as is seeking more information about how companies like TikTok are influencing their daily lives," said New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella in a statement. "Our youth spend hours on social media platforms each day. We already know that on TikTok they are being exposed to harmful content including, but certainly not limited to, potentially deadly viral challenges, bullying, and graphic content showcasing sexual images and drug use.
"As we work to help parents better protect their children online, we must be able to thoroughly investigate and understand the methods and techniques utilized by TikTok to boost young user engagement."
Formella said investigators are interested specifically in looking at how the company works to increase the duration of time spent on the platform as well as the frequency of engagement.
An amicus brief by the attorneys general asserts that TikTok repeatedly and knowingly failed to preserve relevant information and failed to provide internal communications in a useful format.
Prosecutors say TikTok employees use an instant messaging service called Lark as a primary mechanism to communicate internally, but TikTok has "flouted their duty to preserve communications and provide them in a usable format," officials said in a release.
"They have instead continued to allow employees to send auto-deleting messages over the Lark platform after the start of the investigation and have provided messages to the states in a format that is difficult to use and navigate," Formella said in a statement.
Prosecutors say it's "critical" that TikTok produce all relevant internal corporate communications to understand whether the company broke any laws, because use of social media platforms like it play a significant role in the ongoing youth mental health crisis.
In February, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released findings showing an increase in challenges to youth mental health, violence among young people, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors among teenagers — particularly teenage girls.