PARIS (Reuters)-Socialist deputy Arthur Delaporte, president of a parliamentary committee of France that investigates Tiktok’s psychological effects in minors, said on Thursday that he had requested a criminal investigation about the possible responsibility of the platform for “endangering the lives” of young users.
Created in March, the committee revealed its conclusions and recommendations this Thursday.
“The conclusion is clear: Tiktok deliberately put at risk the health and life of its users. That’s why I decided to send the case to the Paris Public Prosecutor,” said socialist deputy Arthur Delaporte to broadcaster Franceinfo.
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“It seems to me that there are criminal offenses, of active complicity and, secondly, when Tiktok executives came to see us, they told us that they were unaware of anything … And I believe it also constitutes perjury,” he added.
It is now up to the Public Prosecution Service to decide whether or not to open an investigation.
“We categorically reject the misleading presentation of the commission, which seeks to make our company anon EXHARE for issues that concern the whole industry and society as a whole,” Tiktok spokesman for Reuters told.
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The platform has “demanding” policies to protect its users, with resources specifically focused on the safety and well-being of adolescents and their families, he added.
The Parliamentary Committee was initially created to examine Tiktok and its psychological effects on young people after a process filed in 2024 by seven families, who accused the platform of exposing their children to content that led them to commit suicide.
The committee has recommended that children under 15 are forbidden to use social networks, while people between 15 and 18 years go through a mandatory nightclub touch, which means that social networks would be unavailable for them between 10 pm and 8am.
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Tiktok, as well as other social media platforms, has long faced criticism of the content in its application. Several countries, including Australia and some in Europe, have adopted or are considering measures to curb social media use by children.
France President Emmanuel Macron said in June that he would press for regulation in the European Union to ban social media to children under 15, after fatal stabbing at an eastern school in France.
