AG Stein investigating TikTok

RALEIGH, NC (WWAY ) — North Carolina’s Attorney General Josh Stein is taking aim at TikTok.

According to a news release from Stein’s office, the attorney general is investigating TikTok for providing and promoting its social media platform to children and young adults.

Stein’s office says TikTok use has been associated with physical and mental health harms. Stein, along with other attorneys general, are examining whether the company violated state consumer protection laws by putting young people at risk.

“I’m very concerned about the ways in which social media companies may be using their technology to hook our kids without regard for their emotional or mental health,” said Stein. “This investigation will shed more light on TikTok’s business practices and how they may harm our children. I will do everything in my power to keep North Carolina’s children safe, whether they’re at school, on the playground, or online.”

The investigation will look into the harms such usage causes to young users and what TikTok knows about those harms. The investigation focuses, among other things, on the techniques TikTok uses to boost young user engagement, including the amount of time and frequency spent on the platform.