STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Secret documents show TikTok officials describing how habit-forming their app can be for teens.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
In the documents, state officials say a teenager could become addicted to TikTok after 35 minutes on the app. That is according to previously hidden portions of a lawsuit filed by the Kentucky attorney general's office. Kentucky Public Radio and NPR have reviewed dozens of pages of the lawsuit that were blacked out from public view.
INSKEEP: NPR tech correspondent Bobby Allyn has been reading. Hi there, Bobby.
BOBBY ALLYN, BYLINE: Hey, Steve.
INSKEEP: How was this secret material made public?
ALLYN: It was a huge mistake. Kentucky was one of 14 attorneys general that have been investigating TikTok for two years over child safety - you know, sent the company subpoenas, obtained reams of internal communications and internal studies. At TikTok's request, Kentucky and the other states redacted privileged and confidential parts of the suit. This is pretty common in lawsuits. But in Kentucky, the blacking-out did not work. And our colleague, Sylvia Goodman at Kentucky Public Radio, figured this out when she tried to copy and paste a blacked-out portion, which usually does nothing.
INSKEEP: Sure.
ALLYN: But here, Steve, it worked. When she did it, the stuff behind the blacked-out portions were revealed. So since then, we have been reviewing large swaths of the suit that were never intended to see the light of day.
INSKEEP: OK, so what have you found?
ALLYN: It's been pretty startling. This material is quite damning. And again, these details have not been made public before, including company officials admitting in these internal messages that features like a time-on-app reminder are not expected to reduce screen time, as advertised, but instead aimed at, quote, "improving public trust." There was an internal TikTok document that found the exact number of videos it took before someone formed a habit - 260 videos. And Kentucky authorities said that could boil down to just spending 35 minutes on the app, since the videos are so short on TikTok - you know, four...
INSKEEP: Yeah.
ALLYN: ...Five, six, seven seconds long. You're flying by on this app. Another section described how TikTok has demoted what they deem as unattractive people off the main feed. And instead, the app is promoting what the company sees as attractive users. Another document, Steve, quotes a TikTok executive talking about the app's algorithm potentially addicting minors. And this quote here really stuck with me. The executive says we need to think about how the app might deprive young people of opportunities - quote, "And when I say other opportunities, I literally mean sleep and eating and moving around the room and looking at someone in the eyes."
INSKEEP: Ow. I mean, that quote from a TikTok executive hurts. But what has TikTok said now that its internal words have been made public?
ALLYN: I reached out to them, and a TikTok spokesman condemned NPR for reporting on information under seal. And to clarify, the documents are now sealed, but when we obtained them, they were indeed public. And anyone, you or I or anyone else, would have been able to see through these redactions if you just went to the docket and pulled them. Besides that, TikTok said the company has robust safeguards and that they proactively remove underage users and have voluntarily launched safety features like parental controls and beefed-up privacy for minors under 16.
INSKEEP: OK. So what do the new revelations mean for these lawsuits?
ALLYN: Well, these cases will be unfolding for many months to come, but the new internal communications we have from TikTok provide what the states will likely be showcasing at trial. And the states here are trying to portray a company they say hooked an entire generation of young people to an app, misled the public and buried its own research about a whole host of harms and instead pursued growth and profits.
INSKEEP: NPR tech correspondent Bobby Allyn, breaking a huge story here in connection with one of our local affiliates, Kentucky Public Radio. Bobby, thanks so much.
ALLYN: Thank you, Steve. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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