TikTok Addiction Lawsuits for Child and Teen Harm

Numerous psychologists and studies from groups like Amnesty International and the Center for Countering Digital Hate say that TikTok’s platform design promotes self-harm, eating disorders, and other dangerous behavior onto app users. Amnesty International found that “TikTok’s very business model is inherently abusive and privileges engagement to keep users hooked on the platform.”   

Individuals, parents, school districts, and more than 40 states are suing TikTok to hold it accountable for purposefully designing addictive algorithms and features that may cause child and teen depression, anxiety, self-harm, and eating disorders.

The case adds to growing concerns about how social media companies, including TikTok, use addictive design features that can harm young users.

Several early trials have already been scheduled in the TikTok addiction lawsuits, with the first expected in late 2025. To read more, please go to our Social Media Addiction page.

At the end of January 2024, Congress demanded that the CEO of TikTok account for the way its platform hurts children. One senator stated that social media companies like TikTok “have a product that’s killing people,” and another senator criticized TikTok for failing “to police themselves at our kids’ expense.” Families are increasingly aware that they’re not alone in their experiences but have yet to see any accountability.

TikTok is designed to be addictive: Lisa Dittmer, Amnesty International Researcher, explains that “TikTok’s manipulative and addictive design practices,” are “designed to keep users engaged for as long as possible[…] The platform’s algorithmic content recommender system, credited with enabling the rapid global rise of the platform, exposes children and young adults with pre-existing mental health challenges to serious risks of harm.”

The TikTok addiction lawsuits are not part of a class action lawsuit but are a group of individually filed cases known as a mass tort lawsuit. These are individual cases that share a common issue: children suffering injuries and harms from TikTok. Each person allegedly harmed by TikTok files their own individual case, but many victims share similar claims against TikTok.  

Parents are making their voices heard by joining the TikTok lawsuits. Young adults who were harmed by TikTok are also filing cases against the company. They recognize that it’s not their fault or their child’s fault, that they’re not alone, and that families can do something to hold TikTok accountable. They are seeking justice and trying to ensure that no child is harmed again.  

Discussing your or your child’s physical and mental health can be incredibly tough. Contact our trauma-informed legal team to confidentially discuss the best options for you and your family. Consultation calls are entirely free and confidential.  

Gibbs Mura, A Law Group,  is trailblazing the fight to hold social media companies accountable for the harm they cause. Our lawyers represent 300+ families whose children were harmed by social media companies, as well as young adults grappling with the effects of social media addiction.