2nd Utah Lawsuit vs. TikTok Targets Alleged Sexual Exploitation of Children

Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes (R) sued TikTok Monday for its alleged “continued profiting" from deceptive design features that facilitate sexual exploitation, sex trafficking, distribution of pornography and other “illegal acts” through its “virtual currency system,” the complaint said. The suit alleges violations of Utah’s Consumer Sales Practices Act and was filed in 3rd Judicial District Court in Salt Lake County.

It’s the second lawsuit Utah’s Division of Consumer Protection has brought against the company through the state's AG office, a Monday news release said. In October 2023, Utah filed a consumer protection case against TikTok for intentionally designing and deploying addictive features that “hook young users into endless use of its app.” During its investigation of those practices, Utah found "that the dangers TikTok poses to children are not limited to its addictive algorithm but also include an open-door policy for criminals to prey on users, particularly minors, through its TikTok LIVE feature,” the release said.

TikTok has profited for years “from manipulative design features that contribute to the emotional, financial and sexual exploitation of children,” the complaint alleged. When the social media platform’s Live feature, which lets users stream live videos of themselves and interact with viewers in real time, is combined with its virtual currency system, adults can “prey on children in many egregious ways, including by transacting with and soliciting sexual acts from minors,” the complaint said. Despite knowing of and “facilitating” these dangers, TikTok “turns a blind eye because LIVE has helped make TikTok very rich,” it said.

Like other social media companies, TikTok discovered that using “manipulative design features,” such as “dark patterns,” keeps users engaged for longer, the complaint alleged. Children’s “developing brains” make them targets for dark patterns because they can't make “reasoned decisions” as easily as adults can. As such, they are more likely to act “impulsively” and make “unwise decisions” than adults, it said.

TikTok makes its virtual currency system “intentionally complex” by “purposely obscuring” its low exchange value to promote further purchases and increase use, the complaint said. Users purchase “coins” and send virtual gifts during live sessions. Recipients can cash out the gifts in real currency, enabling streamers to earn “thousands of dollars” monthly from fans; the most popular ones earn “millions” from sponsorships and contracts, it said.

Unbeknownst to users, TikTok “takes a significant cut,” about half, when users buy virtual gifts for live streamers, the complaint alleged. The amount the platform earned globally in Q1 2023 from this arrangement was redacted. TikTok has other monetization features where users can subscribe monthly to favorite live streamers for a fee; it also “pushes users to buy-in for an even 'closer’ connection with streamers, promising perks like 'subscriber-only chat,’” it said.

A responsible company would “shut down a feature if it facilitated children being exploited and adults paying children for sexual acts,” the complaint said, calling TikTok “too hooked on LIVE’s massive revenue stream.” The platform made “superficial changes” in response to complaints about sexual exploitation on Live, and they don’t solve the problem, the complaint said. TikTok charges users by collecting their time and data, including their location, interests and behavior, then "converts the data into ad dollars," it said.

TikTok’s “design tactics” encourage and allow it to profit from “crime and the sexual exploitation of children,” the complaint alleged. Utah requests that the court preliminarily or permanently enjoin TikTok from those violations and pay restitution and damages of more than $300,000; civil penalties well in excess of $300,000; and attorneys’ fees and costs.