Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway is giving social media giant TikTok a month to produce documents describing how its content reaches children, teenagers and young adults — under the threat of further legal action.
Hanaway's office issued a civil investigative demand on Wednesday to TikTok Inc., demanding the corporation produce documents and information to the Missouri Attorney General's Office for review by Nov. 13.
A news release from Hanaway's office said the demand requires TikTok to disclose how its algorithm selects and promotes content for children, explain its strategies to attract, retain and increase activity among young users and describe its internal methods for determining a user’s age, the rules and safeguards TikTok applies to its younger audience and the enforcement of those policies.
TikTok has settled claims in other states and with the Department of Justice in various legal challenges alleging the social media platform harmed children and young people.
The owners of other social media platforms have recently faced legal action related to social media addiction. Meta Platforms, Inc. — the owner of Instagram and Facebook — and YouTube were found negligent earlier this year in a trial focused on social media safety.
Hanaway pointed to recent events that she said have raised questions about how TikTok's algorithm evaluates watch time, reactions and other signals "in ways that may push inappropriate or harmful content to young users," the news release from her office said.
"TikTok must answer for its handling of dangerous online challenges, the presence of fake or inauthentic accounts and any coordination with outside organizations involved in youth safety," Hanaway's office wrote in the news release.
Hanaway's office said its investigation will examine how TikTok collects and uses data from children under 13, minors under 18 and young adults under 24.
Hanaway said that if TikTok does not comply with the civil investigative demand, it could face "legal penalties."
The attorney general's office directed Missouri residents who have concerns about harmful or deceptive practices on social media platforms to file a complaint at ago.mo.gov.
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