The state of Indiana recently filed a lawsuit against social media heavyweight TikTok. The social media titan was accused of falsely claiming the company’s product was safe for youths and sending American citizens’ data to the Chinese Communist Party
On December 7, 2022, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita rolled out two separate lawsuits against TikTok, which were both centered on what Rokita argues are “false claims” made by the company about its app, which is also called TikTok.
“The TikTok app is a malicious and menacing threat unleashed on unsuspecting Indiana consumers by a Chinese company that knows full well the harms it inflicts on users,” Rokita declared in a statement.
“With this pair of lawsuits, we hope to force TikTok to stop its false, deceptive, and misleading practices, which violate Indiana law.”
In the first lawsuit, allegations were launched at TikTok with regards to how it reportedly lures children onto the platform by distorting the amount of drug references, profanity, and sexual content made as “infrequent.”
In Rokita’s view, TikTok is filled with “extreme examples of such material.”
Additionally, the lawsuit alleges that a critical part of TikTok’s business model is marketing the app as appropriate and safe for children between the ages of 13 and 17.
As for the second lawsuit, the state of Indiana argues that TikTok possesses vast amounts of sensitive data and personal information about Indiana consumers and has misled consumers into believing that this information is not accessible to the Chinese Communist Party.
As Andrew Thornebrooke of The Epoch Times observed, “TikTok has long been subject to accusations that it feeds vital personal information on Americans to the CCP.”
Thornebrooke added that “The main reason for this [accusations against Tiktok] is that the company is owned by Beijing-based internet giant ByteDance, which is subject to laws in China requiring the company to share any and all data in its possession with the CCP.”
Rokita is pursuing emergency injunctive relief and civil penalties against TikTok. He views the lawsuits as necessary measures to get to the bottom of what the company was doing with Americans’ sensitive data.
“In multiple ways, TikTok represents a clear and present danger to Hoosiers that is hiding in plain sight in their own pockets,” Rokita stated. “At the very least, the company owes consumers the truth about the age-appropriateness of its content and the insecurity of the data it collects on users. We hope these lawsuits force TikTok to come clean and change its ways.”
Whether or not TikTok constitutes a real national security threat is up in the air. Nevertheless, states need to start taking action against Big Tech companies. These bloated institutions have become a blight in American society.
To be sure, these platforms are great for content creators and businesses who must adapt to the realities of a social-media dominated world. However, the mindless consumption they encourage and the addictive nature of these platforms must gravely concern public policymakers.
Ultimately, these institutions must be brought to heel.