PENNSYLVANIA, USA — A group of state attorneys general, including Pennsylvania's own Josh Shapiro, announced a new investigation into popular social media platform TikTok.
The investigation will look into the potential harmful emotional and physical effects that TikTok usage can cause in young kids and teens.
"My job is to protect all Pennsylvanians, especially children, from online threats," said Shapiro in a statement released Thursday. “Parents and children deserve to know the risks associated with these platforms, and if TikTok is found to have prioritized business growth over the physical and emotional wellbeing of Pennsylvania’s children, they will be held responsible for that.”
That troubling emotional toll is something Dr. Melissa Brown, a psychologist with UPMC, says she sees often with her young clients.
“A number of them [clients] talk about how it just really creates some negative self talk...and it really creates these unrealistic expectations in their mind and how anxious they feel if they miss out on something.”
Brown says the app poses a number of problems for many teens, especially in regards to their development.
"A lot of times these TikTok's...are really 10 seconds, 15 seconds, and it's scrolling to the next thing," she noted. "It's impacting their attention span...and that reward pathway mechanism of what's that next high...what's that next release of feeling good that I can get?"
Ultimately, Brown agrees that more research needs to be done on social media apps and their impact on behaviors. In the meantime, she suggests parents help set a good example for their children.
"You also need to be a good role model," said Brown. "...You can't be saying 'No TikTok, no Facebook, no social media' as you sit there and scroll away."
Brown also mentioned some of her questions and hopes for the future: "How can we use these platforms to help our young people in a positive way? Because the reality is, it's probably not going away...we need to...help them learn strategies and skills to manage that connection with that platform.”