A lawsuit by New York’s attorney general alleges that TikTok tested nonworking versions of its Algo Refresh feature on thousands of users, including children and teenagers. Reuters reported the claims after court filings were made public.
Algo Refresh is designed to reset recommendations so users can remove unwanted or potentially harmful posts from their feeds. According to the lawsuit, users in so-called placebo tests believed they had activated the tool, but their recommendations did not change. Users who received a working version saw their feeds refresh.
New York prosecutors allege TikTok compared users who had working and nonworking versions in 2023, including to assess time spent on the app and the feature’s effect on advertising revenue. An employee responsible for digital well-being warned internally that a placebo version conflicted with the feature’s purpose and could mislead users, the filings say.
The lawsuit also says the company told users the feature reset its algorithm, although authorities allege the effect was temporary. TikTok disputes the claims. A company spokesperson told Reuters that they misrepresent how Algo Refresh works and that testing new features is necessary to assess user experience.
Letitia James filed the lawsuit in 2024. New York is among more than two dozen states alleging that the platform is addictive to children and misleads users about safety measures. Separate allegations previously reported by Bloomberg say TikTok disabled features that restrict access to potentially harmful material. Court filings describe a New York teenager’s feed as containing a large volume of self-harm posts, but do not establish that the material caused the teenager’s death.
In September 2026, TikTok agreed to pay Alabama up to $300 million and change how the platform works for teenagers in the state. The company and its parent ByteDance had earlier agreed to pay $400 million in a U.S. Justice Department case over alleged violations of the children’s online privacy law.