Unsealed court documents in a lawsuit brought by New York state allege that TikTok subjected thousands of account holders attempting to enable a safety setting to placebo versions of the tool that did not actually work.
During these “ghost” or placebo tests, the social media platform targeted thousands of individuals, among them teenagers and children.
These account holders had chosen to activate safety controls such as “Algo Refresh,” a setting designed to reset content recommendations for those seeking to remove unwanted or hazardous material.
While users believed the tool was working, their feeds remained unchanged, unlike those provided with the fully functional version, according to the suit.
The newly disclosed allegations form part of legal action led by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
It is one of more than two dozen state lawsuits charging TikTok with engineering its platform to foster addiction among children and misleading the public regarding safety measures.
Numerous filings across these state cases have remained sealed or heavily redacted following efforts by TikTok to conceal operational details from public view.
Legal filings contend that while TikTok publicly asserts safety is a paramount concern and that the application is suitable for young people, it deliberately blocked certain groups from accessing safety tools—even when users explicitly sought to avoid harmful content.
A spokesperson for TikTok stated: “We continuously make improvements to our platform which means that, like most companies, we regularly test new products and features to validate the experience and understand how they work in the real world.
In court filings, the platform has largely rejected the claims made by New York, maintaining that protecting younger users remains a core focus. (TheIndependent)
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