Attorney General Brenna Bird Amends TikTok Lawsuit Asserting Risk of China Access to Iowans’ Data

DES MOINES—Attorney General Brenna Bird announced she has added more violations of Iowa’s consumer protection laws to her lawsuit against TikTok. The state asserts the social media giant uses dangerous, addictive features to cause children to become hooked on the app and hides the truth about the risk of users’ data flowing to China. 

As the lawsuit asserts, TikTok has knowingly designed its app to be addictive to children and teens, creating app features that prey upon young people’s unique psychological vulnerabilities. They override young people’s autonomy to decide how much time to spend on TikTok’s platform through mechanisms that encourage compulsive use.

Additionally, the amended lawsuit asserts that TikTok deceives users into believing that the personal data they share is safe from the Chinese government. But the Chinese government can readily obtain TikTok users’ personal information. TikTok’s many public claims to the contrary are highly misleading and, sometimes, outright false.

“Social Media giants need to be put on warning, Iowa will not allow you to hide the truth from parents about the harm your platform is doing to our kids,” said Attorney General Bird. “We’ve sued because TikTok’s content is mislabeled as safe for kids. But now, we’ve found TikTok is knowingly getting kids hooked on their app, to the detriment of kids’ mental and physical health. And if that’s not bad enough, it appears the Chinese government can freely access an Iowan’s data if it wants. It’s time for TikTok to come clean and change the way they do business in Iowa.”

Iowa is seeking a permanent injunction under the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act to compel TikTok to cease its deceptive, misleading, false and unfair statements and conduct. The state is also seeking civil penalties.

Read the amended petition here.  

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For More Information:

Jen Green 

jen.green@ag.iowa.gov