Families file TikTok lawsuit after 15-year-old dies by suicide
Instagram: designbyglebSeven families in France have filed a lawsuit against TikTok accusing the platform of failing to moderate harmful content.
Ever since her 15-year-old daughter’s death by suicide back in 2021, mom Stephanie Mistre began fighting against TikTok. According to the New York Post, Mistre maintained over the years that the short-form video app pushed videos promoting ways to commit suicide to her daughter.
“It was brainwashing,” she said. “They normalized depression and self-harm, turning it into a twisted sense of belonging.”
Now, Mistre and six other families have filed a lawsuit against TikTok France, accusing the platform of “failing to moderate harmful content” and “exposing children to life-threatening material.”
Seven families file lawsuit against TikTok
“They hook children into depressive content to keep them on the platform, turning them into lucrative re-engagement products,” said Stephanie Mistre.
According to the report, TikTok said that its guidelines forbid videos that promote suicide and that it employs 40,000 trust and safety professionals to battle against this type of content.
Laure Boutron-Marmion, the lawyer representing the seven families in the lawsuit, said their case is based on “extensive evidence” and the company can “no longer hide behind the claim that it’s not their responsibility because they don’t create the content.”
TikTokThe lawyer also mentioned Douyin, ByteDance’s Chinese version of TikTok, and how it has a “Youth mode” that is mandatory for users under the age of 14.
“It proves they can moderate content when they choose to,” she said.
This isn’t the first time TikTok has faced a lawsuit over harmful content. Back in October, 13 US states filed a lawsuit against the company claiming its beautiful filters and the auto-scrolling FYP harmed the well-being of children on the app.
They claimed that the app was designed to “feed on young users particular affinity for excessive use” by automatically showing new videos to kids while using the app.