French lawmaker wants criminal probe of TikTok for ‘endangering the lives’ of users

The chairman of a French parliamentary committee investigating TikTok’s psychological effects on minors said on Thursday that he had asked for a criminal probe into the popular video-sharing app’s possible responsibility for “endangering the lives” of its young users.

“The conclusion is clear: TikTok has deliberately endangered the health and lives of its users. That is why I have decided to refer the matter to the Paris public prosecutor,” Socialist lawmaker Arthur Delaporte told broadcaster franceinfo after the committee, launched in March, unveiled its findings and recommendations.

“It seems to me that there are offenses of a criminal nature, of active complicity, and secondly, when TikTok executives came to see us, they told us that they were unaware of anything… and I believe that this also constitutes perjury,” he added.

It is now up to the prosecutor to decide whether or not to open a probe.

“We categorically reject the Commission’s misleading presentation, which seeks to make our company a scapegoat for issues that concern the entire sector and society as a whole,” a TikTok spokesperson told Reuters.

The platform has “demanding” policies to protect its users, with features specifically aimed at the safety and well-being of teenagers and their families, the spokesperson added.

The parliamentary committee was initially set up to examine TikTok and its psychological effects on young people after a 2024 lawsuit against the platform by seven families who accused it of exposing their children to content pushing them to commit suicide.

It recommended that children under 15 be banned from using social media, while those aged between 15 and 18 would face a nighttime curfew, meaning social media would be made unavailable to them between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m.

TikTok, like other social media platforms, has long faced scrutiny over its policing of content on its app. Several countries, including Australia and some in Europe, have taken or are considering measures to curb social media use among children.

French President Emmanuel Macron said in June he would push for European Union regulation to ban social media for under children under 15 after a fatal stabbing at a school in eastern France.