‘A Chinese Trojan Horse’: AG Todd Rokita files 2 lawsuits against TikTok
INDIANAPOLIS (WNDU) - Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita has filed two lawsuits against TikTok and its parent company ByteDance.
Attorney General Rokita made the announcement on Wednesday, in which he accused the company of making false claims about its video-sharing app of the same name.
The complaint alleges that the company makes false representations about its user-generated content. “TikTok Inc. is a Chinese Trojan Horse unleashed on unsuspecting American consumers who have been misled by the company’s false representations about the content on its platform,” the complaint reads.
The lawsuit goes on to say that the app’s rating on digital retailers, such as Google Play and Apple’s App store, is misleading, as minors can easily access adult-oriented content, including songs with explicit lyrics, drug use, and sexually explicit material.
The lawsuit alleges that the algorithm behind TikTok’s content “promotes a variety of inappropriate content to 13 to 17-year-old users throughout the United States.”
The second lawsuit talks in length about ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, and alleges that they could be giving collected user information to the Chinese government.
“The Chinese Government and Communist Party have a demonstrated interest in the kind of data that TikTok collects on its users, which they can use to spy on, blackmail, and coerce those users, or to further develop China’s artificial intelligence capabilities, or for any number of other purposes that serve China’s national security and economic interests, at the expense of Indiana consumers.”
The lawsuit goes on to claim that TikTok has a wealth of highly-sensitive data and personal information about Hoosiers and that it deceives users to believe this information is protected from the Chinese government.
Attorney General Rokita is seeking emergency injunctive relief and civil penalties against the company.
Both lawsuits have been enclosed below:
AG Todd Rokita's Public Redacted Complaint by WNDU on Scribd
AG Todd Rokita's 2nd Complaint by WNDU on Scribd
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