Social media is a deeply embedded part of our culture. The rise and use of social media applications (apps) has become as common as having a smart phone or a computer. The prevalence of these apps is especially persistent in use by minors and young adults.
TikTok is a video-sharing social networking service owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company. The application is used to create short, “fun” videos typically featuring the user performing a song, dance, or themed monologue. Largely targeted at, and used by teenagers, TikTok is one of the most downloaded social media applications of the decade. As of 2019, 41% of TikTok’s 800 million users were between the ages of 16 and 24, with 90% of this group using the app daily.
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Mandatory arbitration clauses are ubiquitous in consumer contracts. In a 2019 survey, eighty-one Fortune 100 companies, including their subsidiaries or related affiliates, used an arbitration agreement in dealing with consumers. Imre Stephen Szalai, “The Prevalence of Consumer Arbitration Agreements by America’s Top Companies,” 52 UC Davis L. Rev. Online 233 (February 2019), https://lawreview.law.ucdavis.edu/online/vol52/52-online-Szalai.pdf. Of these companies, seventy-eight also included a class action waiver. Id. at 234. Moreover, the same source found that more than sixty percent of retail e-commerce sales in the United States were covered by broad consumer arbitration agreements. Id. Strikingly, this led to an estimate that at least 826,537,000 consumer arbitration agreements were in force in 2018. Id.
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The COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect people differently. Vulnerable populations who are inherently disadvantaged in protecting themselves against illness have, sadly, died from COVID-19 disproportionately to the population at large. The numbers are staggering. Reports show that 42% of COVID-19 deaths in the United States have occurred in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
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