10月7日：根据纽约州周三公布的针对该公司的诉讼文件中的指控，TikTok对数千名试图启用平台安全功能的用户进行了一项实验，向他们提供了无法正常使用的工具版本。
Oct 7 : TikTok ran an experiment on thousands of users who tried to turn on a safety feature on the platform, giving them non-functional versions of the tool, according to allegations in New York’s lawsuit against the company unsealed on Wednesday.
在所谓的“幽灵”或安慰剂实验中，TikTok挑选了数千名用户，包括青少年和儿童，他们此前选择使用“Algo Refresh”等安全功能。该工具旨在为希望摆脱不想要或可能有害内容的用户重置推荐内容。根据诉讼文件，这些用户以为自己已经激活了该功能，但他们的信息流并未发生任何变化，这与获得了完整可用版本的用户形成了鲜明对比。
In the so-called “ghost” or placebo experiments, TikTok selected thousands of users, including teens and children, who opted to use safety features like “Algo Refresh,” a tool designed to reset recommendations for users seeking to escape unwanted or potentially harmful content. According to the lawsuit, those users believed they had activated the feature, but their feeds did not change, unlike users who got the fully working version.
这些新公布的指控是纽约州总检察长莱蒂西亚·詹姆斯对该公司的诉讼的一部分。目前已有超过20个州提起诉讼，指控TikTok设计平台以让儿童上瘾，并在安全问题上误导用户。由于TikTok试图将运营细节保密，美国各州案件中的许多文件均被密封或大量删减。
The newly unsealed allegations are part of New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit against the company, one of more than two dozen brought by states accusing TikTok of designing its platform to addict children and of misleading users about its safety. Many documents in state cases across the country have been sealed or heavily redacted as TikTok has sought to keep details about its operations from public view.
该诉讼声称，TikTok向用户保证安全是首要任务，并宣称其平台适合儿童和青少年使用，但同时又故意阻止某些用户群体访问特定的安全工具，包括那些明确希望避免不想要或可能有害内容的用户。
The lawsuit claims TikTok assures users that safety is a top priority and that its platform is appropriate for kids and teens, while knowingly preventing some groups of users from accessing certain safety tools, including users who had specifically sought to avoid unwanted or potentially harmful content.
TikTok发言人在一份声明中表示：“我们持续对平台进行改进，这意味着我们和大多数公司一样，会定期测试新产品和功能，以验证用户体验并了解它们在现实世界中的运作方式。”
"We continuously make improvements to our platform which means that, like most companies, we regularly test new products and features to validate the experience and understand how they work in the real world," a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement.
该公司在法庭文件中广泛否认了纽约州的指控，并表示保护年轻用户的安全是其优先事项。
The company has broadly denied New York's allegations in court filings and has said that keeping young users safe is a priority.
今年9月，TikTok就第一起原定开庭审理的州级诉讼达成和解，同意向阿拉巴马州支付最高3亿美元的赔偿，并调整该平台在该州青少年用户中的运作方式。
In September, TikTok settled the first state lawsuit set for trial, agreeing to pay Alabama up to $300 million and change how its platform functions for teens in the state.
民主党人詹姆斯最初于2024年提起诉讼。关于这些测试的说法被包含在纽约州于8月底提交的更新版密封诉状中，该诉状后来经法官命令解除密封。
James, a Democrat, originally sued in 2024. The claims about the tests were included in an updated, sealed version of New York’s complaint filed at the end of August and later ordered unsealed by a judge.
员工对测试提出质疑 据诉讼称，TikTok“数字健康”部门的一名产品经理在内部表示，对“算法刷新”功能进行安慰剂测试存在争议，用户可能会认为这种做法具有误导性。
EMPLOYEE FLAGGED TEST Internally, a product manager for Digital Well Being at TikTok said doing placebo tests on the Algo Refresh feature was problematic and that users might find it misleading, the lawsuit alleges.
诉讼称，该员工在内部聊天中写道：“这项功能关乎算法的透明度和控制权。而设立安慰剂组与此完全相悖。”最终，该公司于2023年对数千名用户反复进行了测试，将未使用该功能的用户与使用功能的用户进行比较，以研究用户使用网站的时间以及对广告收入的影响。
“This feature is about algorithm transparency and control,” the person wrote in an internal chat, according to the lawsuit. “A placebo group completely conflicts with that.”Ultimately the company did the tests repeatedly on thousands of users in 2023, comparing users who did not get the feature with those who did to study how long users stayed on the site and the impact on ad revenue, the lawsuit alleges.
诉讼还指控TikTok就“算法刷新”的运作方式误导了消费者，声称该功能会重置推荐视频所用的算法，但实际上这只是临时调整。
The lawsuit also alleges that TikTok misled consumers about how “Algo Refresh” worked, telling them it would reset the algorithm that recommended videos to them when it was only a temporary change.
诉状中解除密封的部分还指控，TikTok进行了另一组实验，此前《彭博社》的一份报告已披露这些实验。实验中，TikTok随机挑选用户，并关闭其账户中限制接触有害内容的安全功能。《彭博社》报道称，一名参与测试的纽约州青少年男孩在接触到有关自残和自杀的内容后自杀身亡。
The unsealed portions of the lawsuit also allege that TikTok conducted a separate set of experiments, which were previously revealed in a report by Bloomberg. In them, TikTok randomly selected users and turned off safety features on their accounts that limited their exposure to harmful content. A teen boy in New York who was part of the test committed suicide after he was shown content about self-harm and suicide, Bloomberg reported.
诉讼称，内部审查显示，这名男孩曾大量接触到有关自杀和自残的内容。
Internal reviews showed the boy had been shown an “onslaught” of content about suicide and self-harm, the lawsuit said.