New York accuses TikTok of serving users ‘placebo’ safety features

New York is alleging that thousands of TikTok users, including kids and teens, were unknowingly given “ghost” versions of the platform’s safety features rather than the working versions. Reuters reports the allegation is part of an “updated, sealed version” of New York’s 2024 lawsuit against TikTok, which was “later ordered unsealed by a judge.”

According to the new allegations, TikTok’s “experiment” effectively blocked some users from accessing features like an option to reset your algorithm, which can potentially help users avoid harmful content popping up in their feed. As Reuters notes, users in the experiment “believed they had activated ​the feature, but their feeds did not change, unlike users who got the fully working version.” New York’s newly unsealed claims also allege TikTok ran other tests like this, like one Bloomberg reported earlier this year where TikTok allegedly withheld a safety update to its algorithm for some users.

TikTok spokesperson Nathaniel Brown said in a statement to The Verge, “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.”

New York also claims that a product manager for Digital Well Being at TikTok internally raised concerns about the test, saying, “This feature is ​about algorithm transparency and control [...] A placebo group completely conflicts with that.”

The lawsuit claims TikTok misled users about the feature, as well, presenting Algo Refresh as a permanent reset, rather than a temporary one.