State of Arkansas Files Second Complaint in Lawsuit Against TikTok

Social Media,

The State of Arkansas is pressing forward with its legal challenges against social media giant TikTok.

With an estimated one billion users worldwide and 135 million in the U.S., TikTok is considered by some to be the most popular social media platform in the world. However, last year Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin filed two lawsuits accusing TikTok and its parent company ByteDance of violating Arkansas’ Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

One of the lawsuits — filed in Union County — alleges that TikTok failed to fully disclose that TikTok is subject to Chinese law — including laws that mandate cooperation with intelligence activities of the People’s Republic of China.

In an amended complaint filed in Union County on July 18, the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office argued,

Tik Tok also downplays its connection to China by dismissing Chinese Communist Party presence and influence within ByteDance as unimportant or irrelevant. . . . TikTok’s efforts to downplay its connection to China are designed to, and have the effect of, conveying to Arkansas consumers that the risk of their data being accessed and exploited by Chinese authorities is minimal to nonexistent. . . . The Chinese Government and Communist Party exercise and have exercised legal and political authority over ByteDance. Chinese authorities even forced the company to alter certain business practices and close one business altogether. . . . [TikTok and ByteDance] knowingly deceived Arkansas consumers, and continue to do so, because Chinese law reaches their data in all the ways described in this Complaint and because their data is at risk of access and exploitation by Chinese government or Communist Party.

Social media platforms aren’t just websites or phone apps. These are multimillion dollar businesses owned and operated by investors and other interests.

As we have said before, there’s mounting evidence that platforms like TikTok put people’s personal information at risk and are actually designed to push objectionable content to users.

With that in mind, it’s good to see the A.G.’s office taking action to fight back against these businesses and protect Arkansans online.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Arkansas Ranked #4 in the Nation on Protections for Religious Liberty

Religious Freedom,

Arkansas is the fourth best state in the nation when it comes to protecting religious liberty, according to a new report.

First Liberty’s Center for Religion, Culture and Democracy released its annual Religious Liberty in the States report earlier this month. The report ranks all 50 states based on 16 different religious liberty policies — such as policies protecting religious liberty in healthcare, at school, in religious ceremonies, and in other contexts.

Arkansas ranked fourth in the nation, behind Montana, Florida, and Illinois.

Arkansas has taken bold steps to protect the free exercise of religion. The state passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in 2015 and the Conscience Protection Act in 2023.

Wedding venues, bakeries, photography studios, and florist shops all have come under fire, because their owners wanted to operate according to their deeply held convictions. People should not have to choose between their livelihood and their religious convictions. That is why it is so important for our laws to protect religious liberty as much as possible.

The Religious Liberty in the States report outlines areas of the law where Arkansas’ religious freedom laws could be better. Family Council plans to support better protections for religious liberty when the state legislature convenes in January.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Nearly Half of U.S. Adults Under 50 Don’t Plan to Have Children: Pew Research

Family,

New data from Pew Research Center shows nearly half of adults under 50 in America don’t plan to have children.

Researchers found a staggering 47% of adults surveyed said they are “unlikely to ever have kids.”

When asked the reasons for choosing not to have children, most did not blame the economy or the rising cost of living. Instead, 57% told Pew that they simply don’t want kids. Forty-four percent said they “want to focus on other things.” Pew writes that most of these adults also said that “not having kids has made it easier for them to afford the things they want, have time for hobbies and interests, and save for the future.”

Interestingly, researchers found that among 18 – 49 year-olds, women were actually more likely than men to say that they simply don’t want to have kids.

These numbers are up drastically from 2018, when 61% of adults under 50 said they planned to have children someday.

All of this underscores how our society seems to view children as, at best, an accessory, and, at worst, a burden.

Society doesn’t treat children like they are a blessing from the Lord. Instead, people have been told that children will somehow stop them from doing what they want.

This is evidenced by the fact that earlier this year medical researchers reported that voluntary sterilizations are on the rise among 18 – 30 year-olds.

The fact is, children are good for society. We’ve seen in other countries how low birth rates hurt the economy, contribute to labor shortages, and make it harder to care for the elderly. In 2020, a Chinese Communist Part official admitted the country needed to do more to raise its birthrate in order to “meet labor demands.”

Many of the people who participated in Pew’s survey even said that “parents have it easier when it comes to having someone to care for them as they age.”

But more than just being good for society, children are a blessing. Children are an incredible responsibility, but they’re also an incredible joy. As John Stonestreet once said, “Every person bears the image of God, so whenever families produce children, they mirror God to the world. Sure kids are sometimes irritating, but they’re often hilarious, and they always remind us that life isn’t about ourselves.”

That’s a message more Americans should take to heart.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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