Texas judge rules TikTok misled users on child safety feature
周四,Texas 的一位法官裁定,TikTok 在未成年人安全措施方面违反了该州的消费者保护法。
这场由 Texas attorney general's office 于 2025 年初提起的诉讼指控,平台在宣称能保障儿童安全的同时,未能兑现若干关键承诺。
法院认定,TikTok 在其 "Restricted Mode" 功能上对用户存在误导。 Judge Cory Liu 裁定,该功能并未如其宣传那样运作,致使儿童仍然接触到公司本应主动过滤掉的不当内容。
裁决还指出,TikTok 的公开说法与其内部做法不一致。尽管公司向用户称会删除违反其 "Community Guidelines" 的内容,但证据显示,部分此类材料被内部标注为 "hard to find" 而非直接下架。 Judge Cory Liu 认为,这种误导性做法违反了该州的消费者保护法。
在该裁决后,案件预计将进入审判阶段,以决定相应的惩罚和救济,庭期预计安排在下个月。这一进展反映了针对社交媒体影响的更广泛法律审查潮流,此前 TikTok 和 Meta 也就与平台设计和年轻用户心理健康相关的指控达成了和解。
A Texas judge ruled on Thursday that TikTok violated the state's consumer protection laws regarding its safety measures for minors. The legal challenge, which was initiated by the Texas attorney general's office in early 2025, centered on allegations that the platform marketed itself as safe for children while failing to deliver on key promises.
The court found that TikTok misled users concerning its "Restricted Mode" feature, which purportedly shielded young users from inappropriate material. Judge Cory Liu determined that the feature did not function as advertised, leaving children exposed to content that the company claimed would be actively filtered out.
The ruling also highlighted a discrepancy between TikTok's public claims and its internal practices. While the company told users it would remove content that violated its Community Guidelines, evidence showed that it instead internally classified some of this material as "hard to find" rather than barring it from the platform. Judge Liu concluded that this deceptive practice constituted a violation of the state's consumer protection laws.
Following this ruling, the case is expected to move toward a trial to determine the appropriate penalties and remedies. The proceedings are anticipated to be scheduled for next month. This development follows a broader trend of legal scrutiny regarding social media impacts, including recent settlements by TikTok and Meta over claims related to platform design and the mental health of younger users.
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允许像五岁这样的幼童访问 TikTok 等平台,普遍被视为严重的育儿失误,因为这些平台的安全功能不足以保护他们免受不当内容或被算法诱导上瘾的危害。社交媒体上的儿童保护机制往往不可靠,常常达不到宣传中的过滤效果,这让不熟悉技术细节的家长产生虚假的安全感。当前的社交媒体生态如同一个令人上瘾的数据漏斗,在双职工家庭的时间与精力受限等现代经济压力下,单个家长很难真正抵御其影响。
要扭转以屏幕为中心的育儿常态,可能需要一场深刻的文化变革,因为仅靠自上而下的监管很难实施,也难以迅速改变青少年的行为。有一派主张家长应享有完全的自主权,另一派则认为社交媒体成瘾已超出个人选择,构成公共卫生危机。有人警告说,把责任全部推给企业或国家会不可避免地引向诸如全网身份验证或大规模监控等侵入性措施。与此相对,也存在企业算法之外的替代路径,比如由人工审核的小型社区或基于信誉的体系,尽管这些替代方案缺乏推动现代互联网普及与便捷性的能力。
把西方的社交平台与像 China 这样监管更严格的环境相比较,显示出问题核心往往是企业追逐利润与用户福祉之间的冲突,而不仅仅是技术层面的差异。数字素养教育固然必要,但见效缓慢,无法立即解决那些为捕捉并货币化用户注意力而设计的平台所带来的普遍性设计问题。总体而言,讨论反映出一种更广泛的紧张:人们渴望自由、开放的互联网,同时又必须面对当前系统在缺乏有效监管时,将弱势群体置于重大风险之中的现实。
围绕儿童与社交媒体的讨论暴露了公众对现有技术平台状态和当代育儿方式深层的挫败感。各方普遍认可这些应用的算法本质确实带来了合理的风险,但在解决之道上存在分歧:应依靠更严格的企业监管、政府干预,还是通过改变家长和家庭的行为。尽管许多人担忧幼童接触这些环境的后果,讨论也强调个人行动常常被更广泛的系统性压力和科技公司庞大资源所削弱。最终,这场讨论凸显出缺乏简单可行的解决方案,因为社会必须在维护开放互联网的自由与保护弱势用户免受掠夺性参与模式侵害之间寻求平衡。 • Allowing young children, such as five-year-olds, access to platforms like TikTok is widely viewed as a major parenting failure, as safety features are insufficient to protect them from inappropriate content or algorithmic addiction.
• Child safety features on social media are frequently unreliable, often failing to filter content as advertised. This creates a false sense of security for parents who may not grasp the technical sophistication of these platforms.
• The current social media landscape functions as an addictive data-funnel that is fundamentally difficult for individual parents to counter while balancing modern economic pressures like dual-income requirements and time constraints.
• A significant cultural shift is likely required to address the normalization of screen-based parenting, as top-down regulations often struggle with enforcement and the reality of teen behavior.
• The debate highlights a divide between those who believe parents should have total discretion and those who argue that social media addiction creates a public health crisis that transcends individual choice.
• Some argue that the responsibility must remain with the parent, warning that shifting the burden to companies or the state will inevitably lead to invasive measures like internet-wide ID verification or mass surveillance.
• Alternatives to massive, algorithmic platforms exist in the form of human-moderated small communities and reputation-based systems, though these lack the convenience and broad accessibility that drive modern internet usage.
• Comparing Western social media to more restricted environments, such as those in China, reveals that the core issue is often a conflict between corporate profitability and user well-being rather than just technological capability.
• While education on digital literacy is necessary, it is a slow solution that fails to address the immediate, pervasive design of platforms built specifically to capture and monetize user attention.
• The discussion reflects a broader tension between the desire for a free, open internet and the practical reality that current systems expose vulnerable populations to significant risks without effective oversight.
The discourse surrounding children and social media reveals a deep-seated frustration with the current state of technology platforms and the adequacy of modern parenting. There is a clear consensus that the algorithmic nature of these apps poses legitimate risks, yet stakeholders are divided on whether the solution lies in stricter corporate regulation, government mandates, or a fundamental change in parental behavior. While many participants express alarm at the exposure of young children to these environments, the conversation underscores that individual action is often undermined by broader systemic pressures and the immense resources of tech companies. Ultimately, the discussion highlights a lack of viable, easy solutions, as society struggles to reconcile the freedom of the open internet with the necessity of protecting vulnerable users from predatory engagement models.