New York lawsuit alleges TikTok tested a placebo safety feature on young users

New York’s lawsuit against TikTok alleges that the company gave teens and children a placebo version of a safety feature during an experiment. The users believed they had activated “Algo Refresh,” which is designed to reset recommendations and stop unwanted or potentially harmful content from appearing in their feeds. According to the allegations, their feeds did not change.

Reuters reported that the experiments involved thousands of users, including teens and children, who had opted to use safety features. Users outside the experiment had access to a fully functioning version of the tool, and their feeds changed.

TikTok told Reuters that it regularly tests new products and features to validate the experience and understand how they work in the real world. The company said it continually makes improvements to its platform. It did not immediately respond to a separate request for comment, according to the source article.

New York’s case is one of more than two dozen lawsuits brought by states. They accuse TikTok of designing its platform to encourage addictive use among children and misleading users about safety. The lawsuit also alleges other experiments. Bloomberg reported in June that one experiment withheld a safety feature from 15 million U.S. users. The source article says a teenager who later died by suicide was among those users.