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TikTok paid a visit to Utah, its legal nemesis, trying to drum up support

TikTok held a private event with Utah reporters on Oct. 22, 2024, about their safety features for teen users. It also included two Utah-based TikTok influencers, Briel Adams Wheatley and JT Laybourne. Utah has sued TikTok on two occasions due to the lack of protections for minors.
Saige Miller
/
KUER
TikTok held a private event with Utah reporters on Oct. 22, 2024, about their safety features for teen users. It also included two Utah-based TikTok influencers, Briel Adams Wheatley and JT Laybourne. Utah has sued TikTok on two occasions due to the lack of protections for minors.

TikTok wants to set the record straight in Utah.

Influencers and employees of the company met with reporters on Oct. 22 to discuss their experiences with the app and its safety features for teenage users.

“We're really committed to making sure that teens are safe on TikTok,” said Suzy Loftus, head of Trust and Safety for TikTok in the U.S.

“We recognize that teens find a special home on TikTok, and so we have invested, over the years, in a number of safeguards.”

The popular social media platform is fighting a federal ban as states take it to court. Utah filed two lawsuits within a year of each other. The first alleges that the platform uses deceptive tactics to addict children to the app, which in turn results in poor mental health among a population that has experienced a spike in anxiety and depression. The second, filed in June, claims TikTok LIVE hosts “virtual strip clubs” that involve minors and lets adults on the app give “TikTok currency” to young users “in exchange for sexual solicitation and exploitation while the company takes a cut of each payment.”

The latest salvo against TikTok came in October when 13 states and the District of Columbia also sued. Utah praised it as “a win for children and families in America as multiple states join Utah in the fight against TikTok’s aggressive actions.”Utah has a dedicated website to the harms of social media and passed some of the strictest laws in the nation during the 2023 legislative session. Lawmakers later rolled back some of the restrictions, but the laws are currently on hold following a decision from a U.S. District Court judge.

Even with the legal battles TikTok is up against, Loftus said there are multiple protections in place for minors. They also vary depending on the age of the user.

All accounts under the age of 16:

  • Are private by default 
  • Only friends can comment on videos posted 
  • Other users cannot download their TikToks
  • No direct messaging allowed 
  • Other users are unable to “duet” or “stitch” their videos 
  • Their content is not eligible for recommendation to other users’ “For You” page

All accounts under 18:

  • Daily screen time on the app automatically set to 60 minutes 
  • Unable to receive virtual gifts 
  • Unable to go “LIVE” 
  • Unable to receive push notifications at night 

Loftus said users must be at least 13 years old to sign up, but she knows kids younger than that are making accounts. TikTok uses technology to identify if a child is under 13 and removes the account if they are, she said. Human moderators play a role as well.

“If somebody is underage, they might say their age in their bio. They might say the name of an elementary school, something like that,” she said. “So we're constantly looking for indicators of making sure that we are identifying and removing those accounts.”

TikTok also launched “Family Paring” in 2020. The function allows parents to link their child’s account to their own, giving them the ability to control screen time, content and app access.

JT Laybourne, one of the content creators from Utah at the event, spoke about how he’s used the function with his 13-year-old son. While he was initially anxious to allow his kid on the app, he said kids are “a lot smarter than their parents and they'll find ways to get on the app.” So from Laybourne’s perspective, it provided him the opportunity to have an open discussion about TikTok and its intended uses.

“If we have these discussions, maybe we can influence them the right way and keep them safe, or better safe than elsewhere,” he said.

Even with the various age-related protections on the platform, Loftus said “you're constantly building safety. You're constantly learning from the environment.”

“Bad actors are always changing their strategies, and so likewise, we have to change and adapt to what we're learning,” she said.

Sen. Mike McKell, sponsor of one of Utah’s social media laws, told KUER that he doesn’t believe TikTok “has done enough at this point” to protect minors on the platform and it has “failed to implement any meaningful age assurance process.”

“They continue to collect and sell data on minors without parental consent, and I don't think they've done enough to disable features that lead to excessive use.”

One of McKell’s top issues is the endless scrolling. He wants to give TikTok the “benefit of the doubt” on its strategy to limit screen time to 60 minutes for minors initially but thinks “it's an acknowledgment that their product is addictive [and] that kids are overusing it.”

Laybourne credits TikTok for the life he’s been able to build. He went from working 80-hour weeks at a golf course to running a small business and being able to spend consistent time with his family. He also found a supportive community that uplifted him when he had open heart surgery at the height of the pandemic.

But he also understands the concerns elected leaders have around social media platforms and the potential impacts on minors. Laybourne thinks a lot of the negative things lawmakers know about the app are “hearsay” because they don’t use the app.

“It's not going anywhere, and unless we come together and work on a solution together instead of it's either black or it's white, there's got to be something in the middle.”

Saige is a politics reporter and co-host of KUER's State Street politics podcast
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