Aug. 20 (UPI) -- The state of Minnesota sued TikTok, alleging the app's algorithm violates its consumer protection laws.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison on Tuesday accused TikTok of engaging in deceptive and unfair business practices that violate state consumer protection laws by snaring "young users in cycles of excessive use through app design features that prey on young people's neurodevelopmental vulnerabilities."
"Simply put, the more people TikTok can get addicted to its app, the more money they make, and the more their users' mental health suffers," Ellison said in the press release. "This conduct is not just deeply immoral, it's illegal. Today, I am filing a lawsuit to bring an end to TikTok's preying on Minnesota's children."
The suit claims that the app's owner, ByteDance Ltd., uses a strategy to "squeeze time, attention, data, and even money out of young users by maximizing their time spent on TikTok."
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