A coalition of 13 states and Washington, D.C., co-led by California and New York, has filed separate enforcement actions against TitTok for alleged violations of state consumer protection laws.

The California action, filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court, alleges that TikTok exploits and harms young users and deceives the public about the social media platform’s dangers. The action seeks significant penalties, as well as injunctive and monetary relief, to address TikTok’s misconduct.

Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that TikTok violated California’s consumer protection statutes, the Unfair Competition Law (UCL) and the False Advertising Law (FAL).

According to the complaint, TikTok’s misconduct arises from its underlying business model that allegedly focuses on maximising young users’ time on the TikTok platform so as to enable the company to boost revenue from selling targeted advertising space.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta said: “Our investigation has revealed that TikTok cultivates social media addiction to boost corporate profits. TikTok intentionally targets children because they know kids do not yet have the defences or capacity to create healthy boundaries around addictive content.

“When we look at the youth mental health crisis and the revenue machine TikTok has created, fuelled by the time and attention of our young people, it’s devastatingly obvious: our children and teens never stood a chance against these social media behemoths.

“TikTok must be held accountable for the harms it created in taking away the time – and childhoods – of American children.”

New York Attorney General Letitia James said: “Young people are struggling with their mental health because of addictive social media platforms like TikTok.

“TikTok claims that their platform is safe for young people, but that is far from true. In New York and across the country, young people have died or gotten injured doing dangerous TikTok challenges and many more are feeling more sad, anxious, and depressed because of TikTok’s addictive features.

“Today, we are suing TikTok to protect young people and help combat the nationwide youth mental health crisis. Kids and families across the country are desperate for help to address this crisis, and we are doing everything in our power to protect them.”

The attorneys general filing enforcement actions are from New York, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Jersey, Oregon, South Carolina, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia.

A total of 23 attorneys general have filed actions against TikTok for its conduct toward youth, including existing actions filed by the attorneys general of Utah, Nevada, Indiana, New Hampshire, Nebraska, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, and Texas.