In so-called “ghost” or placebo experiments, TikTok selected thousands of users, including teens and children, who had opted to use safety features like Algo Refresh, a tool designed to reset recommendations for users seeking to escape unwanted or potentially harmful content. According to the newly unsealed allegations, those users believed they had activated the feature, but their feeds did not change, unlike users who got the fully working version.
The 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. 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, including those who had specifically sought to avoid unwanted content, from accessing certain safety tools. 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.
A TikTok spokesperson said the company regularly tests products and features “to validate the experience and understand how they work in the real world.” The company has broadly denied New York’s allegations in court filings and says keeping young users safe is a priority. The distinction that matters: the lawsuit does not allege ordinary A/B testing of a working feature, but a non-functional version presented as functional to users, including children, who were trying to protect themselves.