TikTok knows its app is harming kids, new internal documents show : NPR

The only thing that should be surprising in this article is if this is surprising. TikTok is designed to addict.

As TikTok’s 170 million U.S. users can attest, the platform’s hyper-personalized algorithm can be so engaging it becomes difficult to close the app. TikTok determined the precise amount of viewing it takes for someone to form a habit: 260 videos. After that, according to state investigators, a user “is likely to become addicted to the platform.”

In the previously redacted portion of the suit, Kentucky authorities say: “While this may seem substantial, TikTok videos can be as short as 8 seconds and are played for viewers in rapid-fire succession, automatically,” the investigators wrote. “Thus, in under 35 minutes, an average user is likely to become addicted to the platform.”

Other sections from this article:

• Time-limit tool aimed at 'improving public trust,' not limiting app use
• TikTok demoted people it deemed unattractive on its feed
• Algorithm could deprive kids of opportunities like 'looking at someone in the eyes'
• TikTok's internal estimate: 95% of smartphone users under 17 use TikTok
• TikTok pushes users into filter bubbles like 'painhub' and 'sadnotes'
• TikTok's content moderation missing self-harm, eating disorder content
• TikTok slow to remove users under 13, despite company policy
• TikTok in crisis mode after report on TikTok Live being 'strip club filled with 15-year-olds'

Enough? More than enough for me.