An unprecedented legal initiative in Europe against TikTok. Seven families belonging to the Algos Victima collective are accusing the social network of exposing children to dangerous content, according to information from FranceInfo. The videos promote suicide, self-mutilation and eating disorders. Lawyer Laure Boutron-Marmion, who represents the families, confirms to Figaro to take the platform to court in Créteil.

The starting point for this civil action is the suicide of two 15-year-old girls, Marie and Charlize, who were victims of harassment. A criminal complaint had already been filed by Marie’s parents in September 2023, following her suicide in September 2021, in Cassis. Of the seven teenagers involved, four attempted suicide, while another suffered from anorexia, reports FranceInfo.

Psychological confinement

“The TikTok algorithm is a tool that accelerates unhappiness, creating a psychological confinement in which acting out becomes concrete and conceivable”, explains the lawyer and founder of the Algos Victima collective. Dangerous videos include tutorials on how to use a pencil lead to scarify oneself, or even sequences advocating the use of certain drugs to commit suicide,” explains the lawyer. “Tik Tok’s failure to moderate this content has devastating effects on the health of the teenagers who are confronted with it.” asserts Laure Boutron-Marmion.

With this class action, the families hope to obtain reparations and want the social network to acknowledge that it committed a serious fault. “Some parents don’t sleep at night because they live in fear of waking up and seeing that their child is gone”, explains Laure Boutron-Marmion.

Prior to the hearing, an adversarial debate in the form of written exchanges will take place between Laure Boutron-Marmion and TikTok, which will be required to appoint a lawyer to respond to the lawyer’s arguments. For Laure Boutron-Marmion, it’s also an opportunity to go further in the laws regulating the use of social networks.