Newly unsealed and edited video shows TikTok employees and consultants expressing concern that potentially addictive features of the app could harm users’ mental health.
The video compilation, which was shared with CBS News by the North Carolina Department of Justice, is part of the evidence in a 2024 lawsuit the state’s former attorney general filed against TikTok alleging the company misled the public about the safety of the social media platform.
North Carolina Special Superior Court Judge Adam Conrad on Tuesday ordered that the video and complaint be unsealed. In a separate ruling, he also denied a motion by TikTok’s parent company, China-based ByteDance, to dismiss the North Carolina lawsuit.
“These clips clearly show that social media companies know they’re designing their apps to hook our children even at the expense of their health,” said North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson in a statement to CBS News. “That’s why the company fought so hard to keep the video out of the public eye.”
In a statement to CBS MoneyWatch, a TikTok spokesperson called the video a “shameful attempt to distort an open internal conversation about making the platform safer when TikTok was just beginning five years ago.”
“This manipulation relies on conversations taken out of context with the sole purpose of misleading the public and grandstanding,” he added.
The spokesperson also said TikTok has over 70 features and settings designed to support the safety and well-being of teens and other app users. Those features include a 60-minute daily screen time limit and another that automatically triggers a guided meditation exercise after 10 p.m. for teen users scrolling on TikTok.
In a complaint issued in October 2024, former North Carolina Attorney General Joshua Stein alleged TikTok’s design fosters “excessive, compulsive and addictive use” and that the company knew about the harm it was causing. Stein also claimed TikTok ignored the addictive nature of the app “because their business model and desire for advertising revenue require keeping consumers on the app as much as possible.”
The lawsuit is part of broader litigation brought by 14 state attorneys general last year over allegations that TikTok harms children’s mental health. Minnesota’s attorney general joined the fight this week with a separate lawsuit.
TikTok has denied the claims.
“We strongly disagree with these claims, many of which we believe to be inaccurate and misleading,” a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement to CBS MoneyWatch at the time. “We’re proud of and remain deeply committed to the work we’ve done to protect teens and we will continue to update and improve our product.”
“Never want to leave”
The 3 1/2-minute video released this week features a series of clips of internal company meetings, with speakers describing what they viewed as harmful features of the TikTok app, including some that promote “compulsive use.”
The meetings featured in the video took place a few years ago, according to a spokesperson for the North Carolina Department of Justice, who said they were unable to disclose the exact dates.
“We obviously wanted people to spend as much time as possible on TikTok, which can be in contrast to what is best for your mental health,” said Ally Mann, whose LinkedIn profile lists her as a creator marketing and events lead at TikTok.
In a separate clip, Ashlen Sepulveda, who is labeled in the video as working on trust and safety at the company, explains potential pitfalls of the TikTok algorithm that she said selects content based on users’ searches.
“Let’s say for eating disorders, for example,” Sepulveda said in the video. “The more the user looks up things about fitness or diet, it turns into losing weight and then soon enough the entire ‘for you’ feed for this user is really soft disordered eating behavior that is being discussed by their peers with no opportunity to remove themselves from that bubble.”
In another clip, Brett Peters, who according to his LinkedIn profile is global head of creator advocacy and reputation at TikTok, said TikTok’s goal is to produce such a diversity of content that “you never want to leave” the app.
Sixty-three percent of teens said they used TikTok in 2023, according to a Pew Research Center poll.
Meanwhile, TikTok continues to face an uncertain future as it stares down an approaching deadline, recently extended to Sept. 17 by President Trump, requiring the app to separate from its China-based parent company or be banned in the U.S.
Mary Cunningham is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch. Before joining the business and finance vertical, she worked at “60 Minutes,” CBSNews.com and CBS News 24/7 as part of the CBS News Associate Program.
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