Internal TikTok documents that have become public show that the company, when developing the application, was aware that 35 minutes of continuous viewing of videos is enough to cause addiction in a child. These documents also show that ByteDance knew in advance that the screen time monitoring tools it introduced to protect children from addiction would be ineffective and nothing more than a PR measure.
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ByteDance is currently fighting potential TikTok bans in both the US and Europe, as well as lawsuits filed by attorneys general in several US states. Separate lawsuits filed in 13 states and the District of Columbia allege TikTok violated consumer protection laws and contributed to a teen mental health crisis. A group of attorneys general is seeking to force TikTok to change product features they say are manipulative and harmful to teens.
During the trial, ByteDance was forced to provide its internal documents, which were supposed to remain confidential during the trial. However, incorrect editions of documents in one of the lawsuits allowed the “blacked out” sections to be revealed. It follows from them that the company knew about the potential for children to become addicted to the application.
TikTok’s docs state the exact number of views needed to form a habit: 260 videos. According to investigators, it requires only 35 minutes of continuous viewing: “TikTok videos can be as short as 8 seconds and automatically play in quick succession for viewers. So, in less than 35 minutes, the average user is likely to become addicted to the platform.”
The lawsuits also allege that TikTok knew that long-term use of the app was harmful to children’s mental and social development. According to TikTok’s own research, “compulsive use is correlated with a variety of negative mental health outcomes, such as loss of analytical skills, memory formation, contextual thinking, depth of conversation, empathy, and increased anxiety.” Using the app interferes with basic social functions, disrupts sleep, and makes it difficult to communicate with loved ones.
The prosecution argues that TikTok’s screen time tool, introduced to protect children, was just a publicity stunt because the default viewing time limit was 60 minutes. This is supported by TikTok data – teens spent about 108.5 minutes per day before the tool’s introduction and about 107 minutes after.