Last week, attorneys for TikTok served subpoenas on public school officials in Northwest Arkansas requesting documents and testimony that may be relevant to a lawsuit over the social media giant’s operations.
TikTok boasts approximately one billion users worldwide — including upwards of 135 million in the U.S. — making it one of the most popular social media platforms on the planet. Its Chinese-based parent company, ByteDance, has been valued at $300 billion.
But TikTok has come under fire for struggling to protect private user data from entities in China — including the Chinese Communist Party — and the platform has been accused of serving users a steady “diet of darkness” online.
In 2023, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin filed a consumer protection lawsuit against TikTok in Cleburne County Circuit Court.
The A.G.’s legal complaint calls the TikTok app “a Chinese ‘Trojan Horse’ unleashed on unsuspecting American consumers,” and notes that “tens of millions of minors use TikTok in the United States.”
Once on the app, the Attorney General’s office writes that TikTok’s algorithm “force-feeds” objectionable content to users.
The lawsuit says some of the objectionable content TikTok promotes to teens includes “illegal drug use, sex, violence, and self-harm,” and alleges that TikTok deceptively labeled its app as being appropriate for ages 13 and up when it really should have been rated 17+.
Last Tuesday, attorneys for TikTok served subpoenas to public school officials in Springdale requesting research, studies, communications, policies, programs, public statements, complaints, and other records concerning TikTok and other online platforms — particularly the effects these platforms allegedly have on Arkansas youth.
To be clear, the Springdale schools and officials are not being sued and are not accused of any wrongdoing in these documents. Rather, the subpoenas appear aimed at obtaining documents and deposition testimony that the attorneys may use in defending against Attorney General Griffin’s lawsuit.
As we have said repeatedly, there is growing evidence that social media platforms may deliberately addict users, promote objectionable content, and put people’s personal information at risk.
Social media platforms are more than just phone apps or websites. These are multibillion-dollar businesses, and the adults who profit from them need to be held to the same standards as other business leaders.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
