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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →New York’s amended lawsuit against TikTok alleges that during tests in 2023, the company gave thousands of users, including teens and children, a nonfunctional version of Algo Refresh, a feature meant to reset video recommendations. According to Reuters’ October 7, 2026 report on the newly unsealed pleading, some of those users believed the feature had activated even though their feeds did not change. These are allegations in a complaint. No court has found them to be true.
What the amended complaint alleges
The new claims were added to New York’s existing case against TikTok. Reuters reports that the amended complaint was filed under seal at the end of August 2026 and that a judge later ordered it unsealed. The filing itself has not been reviewed for this article, so the details below rest on Reuters’ reporting and are attributed to the lawsuit as described there.
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Algo Refresh is designed for people who want to reset their video recommendations because they are seeing content they do not want, or content they consider potentially harmful. The lawsuit alleges a second problem: that the reset was presented as more lasting than it actually was.
How the alleged placebo test worked
As Reuters describes the complaint, the test sorted users into groups. Users in some groups who tried to activate Algo Refresh received a nonfunctional version. The sequence the complaint describes runs as follows:
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- A user tries to activate Algo Refresh to reset recommendations.
- In the alleged placebo group, the feature does not work, and the user’s feed does not change.
- Users in the working group receive a functioning reset, and their feeds do change.
- Some placebo-group users reportedly believed the feature had activated anyway.
The complaint reportedly states that the purpose of these tests was to study the effect on time spent on the service and on advertising revenue.
Who was affected
Reuters reports that the tests ran repeatedly in 2023 and involved thousands of users, including teens and children. Reporting describes only some groups receiving the placebo version, not every user or every activation. No exact participant count has been reported, so “thousands” is the only figure available.
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An internal objection
Reuters also reports that a TikTok product manager for Digital Well Being objected internally that a placebo group conflicted with the feature’s stated purpose of algorithm transparency and control. That employee is not named in the accessible reporting, and the words attributed to them should not be read as a named person’s quotation.
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A TikTok spokesperson, who is not named in Reuters’ report, said: “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.” The statement describes product testing in general terms. Reuters reports that TikTok broadly denied New York’s allegations in court filings.
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What the courts have and have not decided
- May 28, 2025: A New York judge denied TikTok’s motion to dismiss, so the original case could continue. That ruling allowed the case to proceed; it did not determine whether the allegations are true.
- March 2026: A court order addressed requests for financial and board materials. It is procedural and does not rule on the placebo-test allegation.
- Algo Refresh: The reporting reviewed for this article does not describe any ruling on the Algo Refresh allegation.
Timeline of the case
| Date | Event | What it establishes |
|---|---|---|
| October 8, 2024 | New York Attorney General Letitia James announces the lawsuit against TikTok. | The state’s claims. Not a finding. |
| May 28, 2025 | The Attorney General announces that a New York judge denied TikTok’s motion to dismiss. | The case may proceed. The truth of the claims is not decided. |
| March 2026 | A court order addresses discovery of financial and board materials. | Procedural context only, not a ruling on the Algo Refresh tests. |
| Late August 2026 | The amended complaint is filed under seal, according to Reuters. | The new allegations, as later reported by Reuters. |
| October 7, 2026 | Reuters reports the newly unsealed amended allegations. | The most detailed public account of the placebo tests so far, as reported by Reuters. |
Scope of the original 2024 complaint
The 2024 case is broader than the Algo Refresh allegation. The Attorney General’s office said the lawsuit alleged that TikTok misled the public about platform safety and harmed young people. It describes alleged addictive features, recommendation design, and misrepresentations about safety measures. The state seeks legal remedies, including financial penalties and damages.
The complaint also addresses TikTok’s family and wellbeing tools, including screen-time management and Family Pairing. It alleges shortcomings in how effective those tools are, how easily people can find them, and what information is provided about them. These are the state’s claims and have not been adjudicated.
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Attorney General James’s statement at the time of the 2024 filing read: “Today, we are suing TikTok to protect young people and help combat the nationwide youth mental health crisis.” That statement accompanied the original filing and does not address the placebo tests reported in October 2026.
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- Established as a matter of record: New York sued TikTok in 2024, the case survived a motion to dismiss in 2025, and an amended complaint with the Algo Refresh allegations was filed under seal in August 2026.
- Reported but unproven: That 2023 tests gave nonfunctional versions of Algo Refresh to some users, including teens and children, and that some of them believed the feature had worked.
- Not established in the reporting: An exact number of affected users, whether any individual user was harmed, and any court finding on the merits.
Readers who want to check the allegation directly should look for the unsealed amended complaint in the New York case file and compare it with Reuters’ account.
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