TikTok vs. NJ State- Which Does the Most Damage to Children?

Porn is addictive and can be seen in school libraries also. Which is more damaging?

TikTok has been putting kids in danger since 2018 with the Tide Pod Challenge and 2 weeks ago AG Platkin is suing TikTok for harming NJ Youth. His press release states:

“Our investigation shows that TikTok knows about the dangerous effects of its platform on young users, and can mitigate these harms, but has deliberately chosen not to do so, as a parent and as the chief law enforcement officer for New Jersey, I’m here to tell TikTok, as I have told other social media companies in the past, that our kids are more than just data points to be monetized to advertisers to the detriment of their mental and physical health.”

While NJ’s Attorney General files litigation against TikTok for ruining the lives of our children, how about we dive into some of NJ’s own practices that harm our children’s mental and physical health?

How is TikTok’s addictive “For you” algorithm any different than public school librarians pushing their “porn for kids” with the “Freedom to Read” agenda? How does creating cutesy displays with sexually inappropriate books keep children unharmed? 

“Teens also report—and research confirms—increased levels of depression, anxiety, self-harm, suicidal ideation, and eating disorders due to social media use.” Jeffree Star said it best “all that extra shit we added during the pandemic because people were bored…” You can find him on TikTok just like Rachel Levine. 

Platkin also states: “Illegally collected and used personal information from children without parental consent in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

The State of New Jersey is as guilty as TikTok when excluding parents. Police officers in New Jersey are not permitted to notify a parent of a minor for a first offense of marijuana or alcohol usage. The State excluded parents when The New Jersey Department of Education created Transgender Student Guidance for School Districts, Policy 5756, “There is no affirmative duty for any school district personnel to notify a student’s parent or guardian of the student’s gender identity or expression.” Yet, the AG’s lawsuit seeks to “put an end to this egregious exploitation of New Jersey’s children and hold TikTok accountable for its unlawful conduct.” 

The AG wants to fight against “deceptive, unconscionable, and abusive business practices that harm the health and safety of New Jersey’s youth.” Hey, guess what? So do NJ parents! 

“TikTok deceives children and parents” … Newsflash! So does the State of New Jersey with policy 5756! What’s good for the goose is good for the gander, no?

We can all agree that social media has its pros and cons. It can be harmful not only to children but to society as a whole. Spreading false information, misrepresentation of facts, and biased viewpoints not only happen on TikTok, they happened right here during Governor Murphy’s COVID-19 briefings. On July 19, 2021, Governor Murphy stated: “We now only have a pandemic among the unvaccinated.” The people that were “Covid Crazy” began to attack, harass and assault the unvaccinated. 

While I can agree that our children have been harmed, the Attorney General should acknowledge that the closing of school buildings during the pandemic did irreparable damage to our children. Had schools been open, maybe children wouldn’t have spent so much time on TikTok?