TikTok on Wednesday received a pair of lawsuits from the US state of Indiana, increasing the high-flying short-form video platform’s troubles in the United States.
The lawsuits accused TikTok of lying about its child safety measures, alleging that it has exposed children to many forms of danger.
The legal salvo from Indiana came in addition to steps taken by other US states such as Maryland to ban the use of TikTok for government officials, thus escalating security-based apathy toward the social media company.
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“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,” said Attorney General Todd Rokita 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.”
The lawsuit said TikTok algorithms served up “abundant content depicting alcohol, tobacco, and drugs; sexual content, nudity, and suggestive themes” to users as young as 13.
The US authorities have been wary about the use of TikTok, particularly by government employees due to concern that the platform could serve as a conduit of espionage for the Chinese government.
TikTok has repeatedly denied that it has ties with Beijing and has promised to protect users’ data. But it has not stopped the growing concern that the platform poses a national security threat to the US. In June, a report emerged that TikTok employees in China can access personal data of American users.
The state also sued TikTok for allegedly deceiving customers into believing that “reams of highly sensitive data and personal information” were protected from the Chinese government.
In a statement, a TikTok spokesperson did not comment specifically on the case but said:
“The safety, privacy and security of our community is our top priority. We build youth well-being into our policies, limit features by age, empower parents with tools and resources, and continue to invest in new ways to enjoy content based on age-appropriateness or family comfort.”
TikTok has enjoyed unprecedented growth buoyed by youth adoption around the world. However, the US remains its biggest market. The company has been seen as a potential enemy to the US because of its ties to Beijing.
In 2020, former President Donald Trump issued an executive order halting TikTok’s business in the US. Though his successor Joe Biden reversed the order, Washington’s feeling about TikTok has not changed.
Calls for TikTok to be banned are growing across the US and states are increasingly taking steps to limit the use of the app.
Last week, FBI director Chris Wray warned that TikTok poses a national security threat, sparking fresh calls for the platform to be banned. On Wednesday, Texas called for “aggressive action” against TikTok.
TikTok has made changes to its operations aimed at taming the national security concern. In 2020, its parent company ByteDance moved its headquarters from Beijing to Singapore. The company has also partnered with American companies to move its data-bases to the US and Singapore.
But Wray said TikTok is currently in negotiations with the US government to resolve national security concerns, a development that will determine the company’s fate in the US. TikTok said it was confident that it will satisfy national security concerns.
“We are also confident that we’re on a path in our negotiations with the US government to fully satisfy all reasonable US national security concerns, and we have already made significant strides toward implementing those solutions,” the company said.