States sue TikTok over app's effect on kids' mental health

• A bipartisan group of more than a dozen state attorneys general is filing lawsuits against social media giant TikTok related to its app's effects on teens and other young users.
• A suit by District of Columbia AG Brian Schwalb accuses the company of deceiving users by claiming that its "addictive" app is safe for children, and for allegedly operating a illegal money transmission business.
• The lawsuits come weeks after TikTok lawyers argued in a federal appeals court that a new law banning the app after Jan. 19, unless ByteDance sells it to a non-Chinese buyer, was unconstitutional.

A bipartisan group of more than a dozen state attorneys general is filing lawsuits on Tuesday against social media giant TikTok, with one complaint accusing the company of deceiving users by claiming that its app is safe for children, despite its addictive features, and for allegedly operating an unlicensed money transmission business.

The states filing suit include New York and California, as well as the District of Columbia.

"Our lawsuit is seeking to hold TikTok accountable for harming D.C. children" said Attorney General Brian Schwalb of the District of Columbia, in an interview with CNBC.

Schwalb's suit alleges a slew of "profound" mental health risks are posed to teens and children by compulsive TikTok use, including depression, anxiety, sleep loss and body dysmorphia.

Schwalb called the app — which allows users to create, share and view short-form videos — "digital nicotine," and said that TikTok is "intentionally trying to addict young people to its platform."

He said the app "inflicts immense damage on an entire generation of young people."

"In addition to prioritizing its profits over the health of children, TikTok's unregulated and