- Indiana AG Todd Rokita filed two lawsuits against TikTok Inc. and an affiliated entity, alleging violations of the Indiana Deceptive Consumer Sales Act and seeking civil penalties and declaratory and injunctive relief.
- The first complaint filed by AG Rokita alleges that TikTok collects highly sensitive data from consumers that is potentially accessible by the Chinese government, despite the company’s representations to users that their information is protected. The second complaint alleges that TikTok has misrepresented that its platform is safe for children ages 13 to 17 when in fact it often feeds inappropriate content to such users through its personalized algorithms and the app’s “For You” feed.
- Relatedly, a group of fifteen AGs, including AG Rokita, sent letters to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichair asking the companies to take action to correct the allegedly deceptive nature of the current age ratings for TikTok in their app stores. The AGs note that although the app’s age ratings indicate it is safe for children 13 to 17, the app can feed children in this age range allegedly inappropriate content as a result of its algorithms.