Utah is suing TikTok as of Tuesday for allegedly encouraging children into social media usage that is detrimental to their mental health.
The Beehive State is taking aim at the social media company with a focus on allegedly enticing children to use the app for prolonged periods of time, not being honest about its safety, and lying about its independence from its Chinese parent company ByteDance, as reported by The Associated Press. This lawsuit joins similar ones filed by Arkansas and Indiana against TikTok.
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“We will not stand by while these companies fail to take adequate, meaningful action to protect our children. We will prevail in holding social media companies accountable by any means necessary,” said Gov. Spencer Cox (R-Utah) at a news conference on the lawsuit, according to the AP.
Last December, Cox implemented a ban on TikTok in government branches of the state due to concerns regarding the app’s security and connections to the Chinese state.
“China’s access to data collected by TikTok presents a threat to our cybersecurity,” Cox stated. “As a result, we’ve deleted our TikTok account and ordered the same on all state-owned devices. We must protect Utahns and ensure that the people of Utah can trust the state’s security systems.”
Other states, including Texas, South Dakota, and Maryland, have also restricted the use of the social media app within their state governments.
In an email statement to The Hill, a TikTok spokesperson mentioned that the platform “has industry-leading safeguards for young people,” such as an automatic 60-minute time limit for users under 18 and parental controls for teen accounts.
“We will continue to work to keep our community safe by tackling industry-wide challenges,” the statement concluded.
The Associated Press contributed.
Updated at 5:12 pm.
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