TikTok intentionally provided non-functional safety features to users as part of placebo experiments.

Unsealed docs: in its lawsuit, New York alleges TikTok gave thousands of users, including youth, non-functional safety features as part of placebo experiments (Diana Novak Jones/Reuters) https://www.reuters.com/world/china/tiktok-gave-teens-children-placebo-safety-feature-experiment-new-york-alleges-2026-10-07/ http://www.techmeme.com/261007/p45#a261007p45

A lawsuit from New York's Attorney General alleges that TikTok marketed safety features to parents and teens that were intentionally designed to be ineffective 'placebos.' - https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/08/new-york-alleges-tiktok-gave-teens-children-a-placebo-safety-feature-instead-of-a-real-one/