The Arkansas Attorney General’s lawsuit against social media giant TikTok is scheduled to go to trial in October 2026, according to a recent scheduling order from the Cleburne County Circuit Court.
With upwards of a billion users worldwide, including some 150 to 170 million in the U.S., TikTok is among the most popular social media outlets on earth.
But TikTok is more than an app. It’s a major corporation owned by a China-based parent company, and it is valued at $300 billion.
However, TikTok has found itself embroiled in controversies over its failure to protect private user data from entities in China — including the Chinese Communist Party. In May 2025, Ireland’s Data Protection Commission fined TikTok $600 million for unlawfully transferring European user data to China.
The platform also has been accused of serving users a steady “diet of darkness” and violating laws intended to protect children online.
In 2023, the Arkansas Attorney General’s office filed a lawsuit against Chinese-based company ByteDance — the corporation that owns TikTok — in Cleburne County Circuit Court.
Attorneys for TikTok worked relentlessly to have the lawsuit dismissed, but the Arkansas Supreme Court has given the A.G.’s office a green light to pursue the case.
Attorney General Griffin’s lawsuit alleges TikTok violated Arkansas’ Deceptive Trade Practices Act by falsely claiming that graphic and mature content on its platform is appropriate for teens. The lawsuit also calls the TikTok app “a Chinese ‘Trojan Horse’ unleashed on unsuspecting American consumers.”
As we keep saying, social media platforms are more than just websites or phone apps. These are multibillion-dollar businesses. The people who own and profit from these companies have a responsibility to protect their users.
Family Council is not aware of any attorney general in America who is doing more to hold social media giants accountable and protect children online than Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin. We appreciate his willingness to continue this legal fight against TikTok in state court.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
