New York says TikTok built a safety feature for kids that never actually worked.
New York's lawsuit alleges TikTok rolled out a safety feature aimed at protecting teen and child users that functioned more like window dressing than an actual safeguard. The claim sits inside a broader suit accusing TikTok of designing its app to encourage addictive use among minors. It is one of more than two dozen state lawsuits making a similar case against the company. Each case treats TikTok's design choices, not just its content, as the core problem.
That distinction matters because a cosmetic safety feature does more than fail to protect kids - it lets a company claim credit for fixing a problem it never addressed. Proving a feature was decorative rather than functional is a narrower, more provable claim than proving intent to addict, which could make it the easiest path to a verdict across all two-dozen-plus suits.
Tech companies have gotten good at shipping safety theater; courts may be getting better at telling the difference.