Indiana Files Lawsuits Citing Security And Child Safety Violations

Topline

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita (R) filed two lawsuits against TikTok Wednesday alleging the app has exposed children to mature content and failed to disclose its access to user data, according to the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, amid a surge of states pushing to ban the app—owned by Chinese firm ByteDance—from government devices.

Wisconsin congress members called for TikTok to be banned from government devices Tuesday.

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Key Facts

Rokita claimed TikTok and ByteDance have violated state consumer protection laws because the Chinese government could potentially gain access to users’ data, and accused the app of deceiving users with its age rating of 12-plus in app stores because mature content is readily available to younger users.

Indiana will reportedly push for $5,000 per violation in addition to asking the app to change how it is marketed for different age groups.

Meanwhile, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) ordered all Texas state agencies not to use TikTok on government-issued devices Wednesday, noting the app “harvests vast amounts of data from its users’ devices” and “and offers this trove of potentially sensitive information to the Chinese government.”

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) cited similar concerns when she banned TikTok from government devices last month, noting the “growing national security threat posed by TikTok” required a ban to “protect the private data of South Dakota citizens.”

In a new emergency cybersecurity directive announced Tuesday by Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R), the use of any application developed by TikTok, Huawei Technologies, Tencent Holdings, Alibaba or Kaspersky has been prohibited.

A letter sent by Wisconsin Republican Reps. Mike Gallagher, Glenn Grothman, Scott Fitzgerald, Bryan Steil and Tom Tiffany and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) declared TikTok a “nefarious Chinese Communist Party (CCP) spyware that surveils Americans citizens” while calling for a ban of the app from Wisconsin government devices Tuesday.

The letter complements its argument by leaning on recent reporting, including a Forbes article reporting ByteDance planned to monitor the location of American citizens, in addition to a New York Times article suggesting the app can track user keystrokes.

Should Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) decide not to ban TikTok or delete his personal account—which the letter suggests is “irresponsible”—the six men requested a public explanation.

Crucial Quote

FBI Director Chris Wray said TikTok could “technically compromise” U.S. devices in a statement last month, according to Reuters, adding “the possibility that the Chinese government could use [TikTok] to control data collection on millions of users or control the recommendation algorithm, which could be used for influence operations” is a risk.

Contra

In response to Wray’s remarks, a TikTok spokesperson noted “the FBI’s input is being considered as part of our ongoing negotiations with the U.S. government. While we can’t comment on the specifics of those confidential discussions, we are confident that we are on a path to fully satisfy all reasonable national security concerns.”

Key Background

TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, have continually been associated with possible national security risks following an order by former President Donald Trump banning downloads of the app and WeChat in 2020. A release sent by the U.S. Commerce Department cited the app has the means to “threaten the national security, foreign policy and the economy of the U.S.” President Joe Biden then revoked Trump’s executive order the following year while promoting a security review of the app, among others, according to the Washington Post.

Tangent

An exclusive Forbes report found that TikTok accounts run by the Chinese government attacked U.S. politicians before the midterm elections while pushing divisive social issues without disclosure the accounts were run by a foreign government.