A Tennessee teenager says she was shocked to discover that her TikTok videos from her high school graduation party were stolen and used by a dating app for 'sugar daddies.' Kaelyn Lunglhofer, 19, a freshman at the University of Tennessee, is suing the dating app Meete for allegedly taking her videos and making it appear she was an escort for older men.
The nursing student said she was unaware her social media was being used for Meete adverts until a friend sent her one of the clips, which she said left her feeling 'embarrassed and mortified.' 'I get sent a video where they're making me look like a prostitute, and that was horrible,' Lunglhofer told WHNT.
The student is suing Meete, based in the British Virgin Islands, along with its Chinese affiliates, alleging it ran provocative adverts with her stolen TikTok videos. The company's adverts showed Lunglhofer dancing at a graduation party, as a female narrator said, 'Are you looking for a friend with benefits? This app shows you women around you who are looking for some fun,' per the lawsuit.
Attorney Condemns Predatory Behavior
Lunglhofer's attorney Abe Pafford accused the company of predatory behavior, saying he was appalled that images of a teenager would be taken to lure in customers. 'For what this app is selling to sort of enlist a teenager as an involuntary spokesperson for their product without consent, without permission, and then to target people around her with that ad to try to deceive them is about as bad as it gets in terms of this type of conduct,' the attorney said.
Although the Meete app is based in the British Virgin Islands, Pafford said the company used geo-targeted ads to lure in men in the area of the University of Tennessee. Unlike most dating apps where users chat one-on-one, Meete is described in court documents as designed to 'solicit' men into 'financial agreements' to communicate with women who use the platform for escort services. This means women who sign up for the site are paid by men to converse with them.
Impact on Reputation
Lunglhofer said she was dismayed to see her likeness used for these services, fearing that her reputation could be ruined by people thinking she was a user. 'There comes a certain connotation when you get when you have that career,' she said. 'And obviously I don't have that career, but implying that I do like those connotations that can come with it. And that's a terrible feeling and that's an unsafe feeling.'
Meete has over 17 million users worldwide, but Pafford accused the dating app of deliberately using a local young woman to trick men in the Tennessee area, even if the women were not aware. 'They want to sort of create a shock or a jolt of recognition when people see these ads and they want to convey the impression that all around them there are people participating in this app,' the attorney said.
Lunglhofer said although she launched a civil lawsuit against Meete and is seeking damages of at least $750,000, the move is not about money and hoped to set the record straight. 'I definitely want justice,' said Lunglhofer. 'I want for what's right to be right. And I don't think that what they're doing is right at all. I don't want anyone else to have to go through this.'
