Status: 08.12.2022 08:28 a.m
New trouble for TikTok in the USA: The state of Indiana has filed a lawsuit against the short video app. She is a “Trojan horse” of China and also forces inappropriate content on children.
The Chinese short video platform TikTok is again threatened with legal difficulties: the Attorney General of the US state of Indiana, Todd Rokita, announced two lawsuits against the app belonging to the Bytedance group. It violates state consumer protection laws by, among other things, failing to disclose that the Chinese government has access to sensitive customer information, the lawsuit said.
Rokita accuses the company of misleading information on data security. In addition, there is a lack of protection for young users. The Attorney General sought an injunction and civil penalties against TikTok.
According to the Attorney General, TikTok is a “Trojan horse” in China
The proceedings regarding data security are mainly about TikTok’s connections to China and the influence of the government there on the app. The platform holds highly sensitive personal information of US users and falsely claims that this information is adequately protected from the Communist Party, Rokita said.
However, China’s government has already shown interest in accessing TikTok’s data collection, it said. You can spy on or even blackmail users in the United States. The app is ultimately a “Trojan horse” in China.
In addition, Indiana’s prosecutor criticizes that TikTok deceives young users and their parents by rating the age of 12 and over in the Apple and Google app stores about mature content. The online network exposes children to offensive content such as drug and alcohol abuse or sexual permissiveness and obscenities. TikTok uses algorithms designed to addict young people to the app and encourage posts that are inappropriate for their age group.
Not the first dispute in the US
According to Rokita, Indiana’s lawsuit is the first of its kind in a US state. A TikTok spokesperson said the company was not commenting on the pending lawsuit. The allegations are not new, however, and the company has always denied them.
TikTok is the only non-US online platform with a global reach. In 2020, then US President Donald Trump threatened a ban, citing risks to national security, and tried to force a sale of the international business. China torpedoed this with a sales freeze for software algorithms.
Trump’s successor, Joe Biden, stopped the attempted ban – primarily for legal reasons. But safety concerns persist. In mid-November, FBI chief Christopher Wray expressed concerns about national security. Accordingly, there is a risk that the Chinese government could control the collection of millions of user data.