“A virtual strip club for minors,” says Utah?

Your Weekly Short-Form Video Secrets: Utah’s taking more legal action, plus how one straight-to-camera opinion video got people talking.

Suing… Again.?

Utah has filed its second lawsuit in under a year against TikTok, this time targeting TikTok Live. While both suits have to do with Utah stating TikTok has created an addictive platform that intentionally targets teens, this new June suit alleges TikTok Live functions as a “Virtual Strip Club” that enables the sexual exploitation of minors.?

According to the suit, TikTok Live allows minor creators to receive ‘gifts’ from adult viewers, which can be cashed out for money, in exchange for suggestive actions. Utah claims TikTok profits from this exploitation by taking a portion of the ‘gifting’ money and using graphics and features that appeal to children.?

The lawsuit alleges that TikTok has not properly moderate inappropriate content, and claims they knowingly harm children.?

The suit is aiming for a jury trial, in the hopes of forcing TikTok to implement changes to its platform, better content moderation, and forfeiting all profits made off of such content.?

While TikTok has not directly addressed this new lawsuit, it has previously defended its “industry-leading safeguards” for young users, like parental controls and screen time limits.?

What does this mean for you??

In an already precarious year for TikTok, this lawsuit could create additional turbulence. However, it is true that TikTok is one of the platforms going to extreme lengths to protect minors, often allowing its algorithm to be overly protective of content (hence why we always say make sure everything is visible and easily understood in your videos– otherwise you risk getting throttled). Meanwhile other platforms, like X, are now rolling back their moderation and allowing adult content.?

Overall, this suit could pose a threat to creators who profit off of TikTok Live revenue sources, even those who are compliant and following all terms & conditions. But as we’ve seen recently with Meta, even compliant content can take a financial hit just by the platform changing its payout splits. The best thing creators can do is follow the rules set forth by each platform and ensure they’re not becoming overly reliant on a single revenue stream.

What’s Trending

With over 62,000 saves and 31,000 comments, this video about Gen Z in the workplace has got people talking.?

The video starts with a no-frills phone recording of a news broadcast. The reporter made a bold statement about Gen Z being the hardest generation to work with. The popular creator then stitches a minute-long video explaining why this is, making a bold statement himself, saying it’s not that they’re hard to work with, but that Boomers are hard to work for.?

Without any music, any edits, or fancy transitions, this video got people talking. And it’s easy to see why.?

Your takeaway:?

Taking a hard stance on a heated topic creates polarization. Within that polarization comes engagement. We know, based upon the psychology of attention, that people are more likely to engage on content that they disagree with. So if you’re okay with people rebutting your opinion, or lending their own in the comments, being willing to share an unpopular or polarizing opinion can be an effective way to generate engagement.?

What do you want more of??

We love talking about content as much as the next person, but we want to make sure we’re answering YOUR questions. What would you like to see more of in this content? Send us an email and let us know!?

Also….

We’re getting ready to turn our live ?-day virtual bootcamps into an on-demand course. If you want to receive live 1:1 coaching as part of our training, we’re down to our final bootcamp dates… so book your seat NOW!?

You can even use the code DEFLATE to get 20% off the standard ticket price.?

Happy posting!