New York’s allegation against TikTok

New York alleges that thousands of TikTok users, including children and teens, unknowingly received “ghost” versions of the platform’s safety features rather than versions that worked. In other words, users were allegedly given the appearance of having access to safety tools without receiving their functioning versions.

The allegation appears in an “updated, sealed version” of New York’s 2024 lawsuit against TikTok, according to Reuters. The report says the state accuses TikTok of blocking selected users from accessing features, including Algo Refresh. The claims concern users who, New York alleges, did not know that the safety features presented to them were not working as intended.

The allegation is about access to safety features on the platform, not simply whether TikTok offered those features. New York says some users were served “ghost” versions instead of the working tools. Reuters’ account describes this as a claim in the updated lawsuit; it does not establish the allegation as a finding.

Features users allegedly could not access

The complaint alleges that selected TikTok users were blocked from accessing certain safety features, including Algo Refresh. According to the report, New York says thousands of users, including children and teenagers, were unknowingly given “ghost” versions of the platform’s safety features rather than working versions.

The allegation concerns access to the features: some users allegedly could not use the functioning versions available to others. The source does not describe how Algo Refresh works or explain which users were selected, so those details remain unclear in the report.

New York’s claim appears in an updated, sealed version of its 2024 lawsuit against TikTok, Reuters reports. The source characterizes the features as safety tools and says the complaint alleges that selected users were prevented from accessing them. It does not establish that the allegations have been proven.

The allegation’s place in the lawsuit

Reuters reports that the claims about users receiving “ghost” versions of TikTok’s safety features appear in an updated, sealed version of New York’s 2024 lawsuit against the company. The updated version was later ordered, according to Reuters.

This places the allegation within an existing legal case, rather than describing it as a separate lawsuit. The claim concerns thousands of users, including children and teenagers, who New York alleges were unknowingly given versions of safety features that did not work as intended. Reuters’ account ties those claims to the sealed update to the state’s 2024 filing.

The lawsuit’s updated version is sealed, so the report describes the claims without presenting them as findings by a court. The allegation is New York’s, and its appearance in the updated filing does not by itself establish that TikTok blocked users from accessing working features. The report identifies the document as an updated, sealed version of the 2024 case and says it was later ordered.

What the report says about the claims

The allegations are attributed to New York, not presented as established findings. According to Reuters, they appear in an “updated, sealed version” of the state’s 2024 lawsuit against TikTok, which was later ordered to be made public.

New York alleges that thousands of TikTok users, including children and teenagers, were unknowingly given “ghost” versions of the platform’s safety features instead of working versions. The report characterizes these as “placebo” features: tools that appeared to be available but allegedly did not function as intended for selected users.

The claims concern access to TikTok safety features, including Algo Refresh. The source says TikTok allegedly blocked selected users from accessing features like this one. It does not establish that every user was affected or that the allegation has been proven. The reported issue is specifically that some people were allegedly unable to use safety tools they believed were available to them.