Two anonymous mourners facing a growing juggernaut. Two years after the suicide of their daughter Marie, aged 15, her parents, Stéphanie and Charles, decided to sue Tiktok. The teenager, a regular user of this social network popular with (very) young people, had mentioned in videos the school harassment of which she was the victim. But after digesting its content, the application bombarded her with sensitive content – on depression, suicide, unhappiness – which, in the eyes of those close to her, worsened her condition.
This is why, on September 8, they filed a complaint against the Chinese giant for “provocation to suicide”, “failure to assist a person in danger” and “propaganda or advertising of means of killing oneself”. This is the first time in France that such a procedure has been brought against TikTok.
“A bunch of videos are circulating about suicide”
“A few weeks before the tragedy, she was getting worse and worse, and she published worrying videos about her condition,” explains Me Laure Boutron-Marmion, lawyer for Marie’s parents, specializing in the defense of minors, who intervenes in particular on school bullying. Some users are banned quickly and lightly, but a lot of videos are circulating about suicide.
Clearly, the lawyer criticizes the platform for not putting in place safeguards to contain the algorithm’s methods. “We could imagine alerts, a reaction, notifying the legal person responsible. The user is scrutinized and assimilated content is generated. In Marie’s state, this could only encourage her,” continues the council.
Another complaint filed in 2022 against the school
Like any pioneering approach, the lawyer advances towards the unknown. However, it will be able to cling to a precedent, in the United Kingdom. In 2022, English justice recognized the responsibility of Meta and Pinterest in the suicide of Molly, 14 years old. Their fault? Having exposed the young girl to “negative content”. The teenager had notably watched more than 130 videos on suicide before committing the act.
But in this matter, change could also come from the law. Since August 25 and the entry into force of the Digital Services Act (DSA), “European legislation has forced large platforms to be more transparent and more attentive to sensitive content,” recalls Alexandre Lazarègue, lawyer specializing in digital law and social networks. It requires better moderation of the algorithm on sensitive content, under penalty of financial sanctions.” According to him, his colleague’s initiative, the first on the criminal level, “has the merit of raising this issue to raise awareness and make the platforms react. »
Even if this complaint is primarily motivated by Marie’s case alone, Laure Boutron-Marmion is delighted at the idea that it could benefit “the collective”, especially since the government has made school harassment one of of its priority projects. “The harassment of Marie existed before, but what we blame TikTok for is having entered the game and making the situation worse,” specifies the lawyer. The teenager’s parents also initiated legal action in April 2022 against the establishment in which Marie was educated. A Toulon investigating judge was asked to handle the case.