TikTok gave young users a placebo safety tool, New York lawsuit alleges

According to a new unsealed filing in New York’s lawsuit, TikTok gave thousands of users, including teenagers and children, a safety tool that did not work.

Reuters reported the allegations on October 7, after a judge ordered the filings unsealed. They appear in an amended complaint that New York Attorney General Letitia James filed under seal at the end of August.

The feature in question, Algo Refresh, allows users to reset their recommendations to avoid unwanted or harmful videos.

The complaint states that during tests in 2023, some users received a placebo. These users thought the tool was working, but their feeds remained unchanged.

The complaint also says the tests examined how the feature affected time spent in the app and ad sales. Basically, it claims that the reset TikTok offered did not last.

According to the filing, a product manager from TikTok’s Digital Well Being team raised concerns about the tests in an internal chat.

“This feature is about algorithm transparency and control,” the manager wrote. “A placebo group completely conflicts with that.”

A TikTok spokesperson told Reuters that the company often tries out new products and features.

Also, the spokesperson also said the lawsuit gives a false picture of how Algo Refresh works. In the end, TikTok has generally denied New York’s claims in court.

The unsealed documents also include another TikTok test, first reported by Bloomberg in August.

TikTok did not provide a safety update to about 10% of its US users, around 15 million people. A 16-year-old from New York in that group died by suicide in 2022 after seeing content about self-harm and suicide.

After the Bloomberg report, Senators Marsha Blackburn and Richard Blumenthal sent TikTok 13 written questions about that test.

Attorney General James Sues first sued TikTok in October 2024, along with 14 other state attorneys general. Her original complaint said the company lied about how safe its tools were, including a feature called Refresh.

More than 24 states have now sued TikTok, saying it made its app to get children addicted. In September, the company agreed to pay Alabama up to $300 million to settle that state’s case, the first one planned for trial.