Seven families in France sue TikTok over alleged failure to remove harmful content

The social media network TikTok is being sued by seven families in France after they allege the platform exposed their adolescent children to harmful content.

A lawsuit has been filed, with the families taking joint legal action in the Créteil judicial court.

The filing alleges that TikTok’s algorithm exposed the seven teenagers to videos promoting suicide, self-harm and eating disorders. Two of the teenagers took their own lives at 15.

Laure Boutron-Marmion is the lawyer representing the families in the case, with Reuters reporting she said: “The parents want TikTok’s legal liability to be recognized in court.

“This is a commercial company offering a product to consumers who are, in addition, minors. They must, therefore, answer for the product’s shortcomings.”

While TikTok has not yet commented on the case publicly, the company has previously said it has taken issues that were linked to children’s mental health seriously. It was this year when the CEO of the Chinese social media platform, Shou Zi Chew, told U.S. lawmakers the company has invested in measures to protect young people who use the app.

Earlier this year, U.S. lawmakers at a congressional hearing accused TikTok of serving harmful content and inflicting ‘emotional distress’ on young users. They then grilled the app’s CEO on the company’s influence on teens.

In September, TikTok – along with Meta and Snapchat – announced it had signed up to work with the Mental Health Coalition on a new Thrive program. This is where the platforms work together to prevent content that features suicide or self-harm from spreading online.

The families involved in the lawsuit have become part of the Algos Victima collective which was established by Laure Boutron-Marmion in 2024. On the Boutron-Marmion law firm website, it states this is a “true hub for legal and judicial support for victims and their families, ‘Algos Victima’ aims to hold social media companies accountable.”

It was created to take “necessary legal actions before French institutions to hold social media companies legally responsible for the harm caused to underage users.

It was on September 12, 2023, when the first French lawsuit against TikTok for the alleged incitement to suicide was filed. The family is represented by Laure Boutron-Marmion.

Featured Image: Photo by Alexander Shatov on Unsplash

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