Claims extracted
22
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
27%
6 of 22 hedged
("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans strongly left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
66/100
The Straits Times's corrections and
hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Technology
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
New York alleges TikTok gave teens, children placebo safety feature in experiment
AI generated
asserted
TikTok → allege → AI
TikTok ran an experiment on thousands of users who tried to turn on a safety feature on the platform, giving them non-functional versions of the tool, according to allegations in New York’s lawsuit against the company unsealed on Oct 7.
uncertain
who → run → Oct
In the so-called “ghost” or placebo experiments, TikTok selected thousands of users, including teens and children, who opted to use safety features like Algo Refresh, a tool designed to reset recommendations for users seeking to escape unwanted or potentially harmful content.
asserted
who → call → content
According to the lawsuit, those users believed they had activated the feature, but their feeds did not change, unlike users who got the fully working version.
uncertain
who → accord → version
The newly unsealed allegations are part of New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit against the company, one of more than two dozen brought by states accusing TikTok of designing its platform to addict children and of misleading users about its safety.
asserted
allegations → unseal → safety
Many documents in state cases across the country have been sealed or heavily redacted as TikTok has sought to keep details about its operations from public view.
asserted
TikTok → seal → view
The lawsuit claims TikTok assures users that safety is a top priority and that its platform is appropriate for kids and teens, while knowingly preventing some groups of users from accessing certain safety tools, including users who had specifically sought to avoid unwanted or potentially harmful content.
uncertain
who → claim → content
“We continuously make improvements to our platform which means that, like most companies, we regularly test new products and features to validate the experience and understand how they work in the real world,” a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement.
asserted
spokesperson → make → statement
The company has broadly denied New York’s allegations in court filings and has said that keeping young users safe is a priority.
asserted
keeping → deny → users
In September, TikTok settled the first state lawsuit set for trial, agreeing to pay Alabama up to $300 million and change how its platform functions for teens in the state.
asserted
platform → settle → state
James, a Democrat, originally sued in 2024.
asserted
James → sue → 2024
The claims about the tests were included in an updated, sealed version of New York’s complaint filed at the end of August and later ordered unsealed by a judge.
uncertain
claims → include → judge
Employee flagged test
asserted
Employee → flag → test
Internally, a product manager for Digital Well Being at TikTok said doing placebo tests on the Algo Refresh feature was problematic and that users might find it misleading, the lawsuit alleges.
uncertain
lawsuit → say → feature
“This feature is about algorithm transparency and control,” the person wrote in an internal chat, according to the lawsuit.
uncertain
person → write → lawsuit
“A placebo group completely conflicts with that.”
asserted
group → conflict → that
Ultimately the company did the tests repeatedly on thousands of users in 2023, comparing users who did not get the feature with those who did to study how long users stayed on the site and the impact on ad revenue, the lawsuit alleges.
asserted
lawsuit → do → revenue
The lawsuit also alleges that TikTok misled consumers about how Algo Refresh worked, telling them it would reset the algorithm that recommended videos to them when it was only a temporary change.
asserted
it → allege → them
The unsealed portions of the lawsuit also allege that TikTok conducted a separate set of experiments, which were previously revealed in a report by Bloomberg.
asserted
which → unseal → Bloomberg
In them, TikTok randomly selected users and turned off safety features on their accounts that limited their exposure to harmful content.
asserted
that → select → content
A teen boy in New York who was part of the test committed suicide after he was shown content about self-harm and suicide, Bloomberg reported.
asserted
Bloomberg → commit → harm
Internal reviews showed the boy had been shown an “onslaught” of content about suicide and self-harm, the lawsuit said.
asserted
lawsuit → show → suicide
The Aporia
