Pennsylvania Attorney General Files Lawsuit Similar to Arkansas’ Against TikTok

Earlier this month, Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday announced a lawsuit against social media giant TikTok. Sunday’s lawsuit is similar to a pair of consumer protection lawsuits Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin filed in 2023.

The Pennsylvania lawsuit alleges TikTok lies about how much harmful content appears on its platform — including sexual content, nudity, profanity, and drug use. Pennsylvania argues that underreporting helps the TikTok app maintain a 13+ age rating in app store instead of being rated 17+.

The lawsuit also alleges that the TikTok app is addictive by design, because TikTok profits from ad revenue as users spend more time scrolling on its platform.

“TikTok has built its empire based on a model of addictiveness at all costs, and expanded that empire using deception about what sort of content is viewable for kids,” Attorney General Sunday said in a statement. “This is not an indictment against modern technology, or a scolding assessment of social media as a whole — rather, this is an action to hold accountable a company that values dollars over mental wellness.”

Pennsylvania’s lawsuit against TikTok is very similar to a pair of consumer protection lawsuits Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin filed in 2023.

Attorney General Griffin’s legal complaints call the TikTok app “a Chinese ‘Trojan Horse’ unleashed on unsuspecting American consumers,” and highlight how TikTok fails to protect private user data.

His office argues that TikTok’s algorithm “force-feeds” objectionable content to users — including “illegal drug use, sex, violence, and self-harm.”

The A.G.’s team says that TikTok deceptively labeled its app as being appropriate for ages 13 and up when it really should have been rated 17+.

Attorney General Griffin’s office is still actively pursuing both lawsuits in Arkansas court.

TikTok has an estimated 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 a growing body of evidence that social media platforms like TikTok may deliberately addict users, promote objectionable content, and put people’s personal information at risk.

Time and again, TikTok has come under fire for failing to protect private user data from entities like the Chinese Communist Party.

The social media giant has also been accused of serving users a steady “diet of darkness” online.

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 accountable when they harm innocent people — especially teens.

Children deserve proactive protection online. If tech companies won’t protect children, then voters and policymakers must.

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. It’s good to see other state leaders like Attorney General Dave Sunday standing up for kids as well.

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