State attorneys normal have launched a nationwide investigation into TikTok and its attainable dangerous results on younger customers’ psychological well being, widening authorities scrutiny of the wildly fashionable video platform.

The investigation was introduced Wednesday by quite a few states led by California, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, Tennessee and Vermont.

US lawmakers and federal regulators have criticised TikTok, citing practices and computer-driven promotion of content material they are saying can endanger the bodily and psychological well being of younger customers. The platform has an estimated 1 billion month-to-month customers and is particularly fashionable with teenagers and youthful youngsters.

Last month, Texas opened an investigation into TikTok’s alleged violations of kids’s privateness and facilitation of human trafficking.

“Our children are growing up in the age of social media — and many feel like they need to measure up to the filtered versions of reality that they see on their screens,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta mentioned in a information launch. “We know this takes a devastating toll on children’s mental health and well-being.”

Bonta said the investigation aims to determine if TikTok is violating the law in promoting its platform to young people.

Government officials and child-safety advocates maintain that TikTok’s computer algorithms pushing video content to users can promote eating disorders and even self-harm and suicide to young viewers.

TikTok has said it focuses on age-appropriate experiences, noting that some features, such as direct messaging, are not available to younger users. The company says it has tools in place, such as screen-time management, to help young people and parents moderate how long children spend on the app and what they see.

“We care deeply about building an experience that helps to protect and support the well-being of our community, and appreciate that the state attorneys general are focusing on the safety of younger users,” the company said Wednesday. “We look forward to providing information on the many safety and privacy protections we have for teens.”

Early last year, after federal regulators ordered TikTok to disclose how its practices affect children and teenagers, the platform tightened its privacy practices for users under 18.

As its popularity has swelled, TikTok has come under a barrage of criticism from state officials, federal regulators, consumer advocates and lawmakers of both parties. Republicans have especially homed in on the company’s ties to China. TikTok is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance.

“TikTok threatens the safety, mental health and well-being of our kids,” Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, the senior Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, mentioned at a listening to Tuesday.

Late final 12 months the same coalition of state attorneys normal started an investigation into the Instagram photo-sharing platform, owned by Facebook guardian Meta, and its results on younger folks. The motion got here after former Facebook product supervisor Frances Haugen revealed inside firm analysis displaying obvious hurt to some teen customers of Instagram.

In his State of the Union deal with on Tuesday evening, President Joe Biden requested Congress to bolster privateness protections for kids, together with by banning promoting focused at them and with measures geared toward decreasing the promotion of content material that contributes to dependancy.

Critics of TikTok have pointed, for instance, to incidents across the nation that got here to mild final fall through which college students vandalised college loos and different tools, and stole provides — apparently in response to a viral TikTok problem referred to as “devious licks.” Also final fall, The Wall Street Journal reported that teenage ladies had been searching for medical look after the sudden onset of tics, equivalent to jerky motions and verbal outbursts; docs mentioned TikTok movies on Tourette syndrome might be an element.