TikTok has been accused of conducting covert experiments in which thousands of users, including teenagers and young children, were given non-functional safety tools, according to documents released in connection with a lawsuit filed by New York State.
The experiments were reportedly referred to internally as “Ghost” or “Placebo” tests.
According to the allegations, users who activated safety features such as “Algo Refresh”, designed to help them avoid harmful or inappropriate video content, were led to believe the tools were working. However, the experiments allegedly made no actual changes to the videos shown to those users.
The lawsuit was filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James and is among more than 25 cases brought against TikTok by various US states. The cases allege that the platform encourages addictive use among children and misleads users about its safety measures.
Although TikTok maintains that user safety is a priority and that the platform is suitable for children and teenagers, the lawsuit alleges that the company deliberately withheld effective safety tools from users seeking to avoid harmful content.
