Internal Documents Shows TikTok Becomes Addictive After 35 Minutes

Internal documents have revealed that TikTok knows its algorithm is harmful to kids and that the average user becomes “addicted” to the app in 35 minutes.

Earlier this month, over a dozen U.S. states sued TikTok over claims that the video app is designed to be addictive to kids and harms their mental health.

Kentucky was one of multiple states that filed lawsuits against TikTok in relation to the app’s effect on teens and other young users — following a two-year national investigation into the app.

According to an exclusive NPR report, in each ofthe separate lawsuits, state regulators filed dozens of redacted internal TikTok documents — which were blacked-out from public view — after entering into confidentiality agreements with the company.

However, in the lawsuit filed by Kentucky, the redactions were faulty and TikTok’s incriminating internal documents have now accidentally become public.

According to NPR, thirty pages of uncovered documents have revealed that TikTok executives were aware of the addictive quality of the app and how harmful it is to kids and teens.

The documents include summaries of internal studies and communications between TikTok executives as they discuss responses to crises and ways to improve the app. The documents reportedly show TikTok executives speaking candidly about a host of dangers for children on the video app.

According to the publication, TikTok executives cited internal research which showed that the average user becomes addicted to the app after viewing 260 videos on the platform.

Given most TikTok videos are about eight seconds, Kentucky’s state investigators calculated that a child could be addicted after just 35 minutes of using the app.

‘A Slew of Negative Mental Health Effects’

NPR says that in one of the newly revealed internal documents, TikTok employees described how heavy use of the app “correlates with a slew of negative mental health effects like loss of analytical skills, memory formation, contextual thinking, conversational depth, empathy, and increased anxiety.”

According to internal documents, TikTok discussed how its app features designed and promoted to help users limit their screen time were primarily seen as a strategy to “improve public trust” rather than effectively reduce usage.

The documents also reveal that TikTok believed 95% of smartphone users under the age of 17 used the app. However, TikTok often struggled to swiftly remove users under the age of 13, the minimum age requirement for the app.

In a statement to NPR, TikTok spokesman Alex Haurek defends the company’s child safety record and condemns the disclosure of once-public material that has now been sealed.

“It is highly irresponsible of NPR to publish information that is under a court seal,” Haurek says in a statement. “Unfortunately, this complaint cherry-picks misleading quotes and takes outdated documents out of context to misrepresent our commitment to community safety.”

The latest revelations come as TikTok fights against legislation passed by Congress that would ban the app in the U.S. in January unless it Chinese parent company ByteDance agrees to a sale.

 
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