INDIANAPOLIS — Nearly a year after filing two lawsuits against TikTok, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita’s challenge against the company and its parent ByteDance has been dismissed by an Allen County judge.
Rokita alleged the popular app misrepresented its safety for children and data protection efforts.
An office spokesperson for Rokita said the agency is considering appellate options.
“Our lawsuit against TikTok was filed to protect our children and to protect our data privacy that we allege is being stolen by the Chinese Communist Party. We maintain their business model intentionally deceives children and adults to drive up profits by saying it is appropriate for kids,” the office said in a statement.
The statement continued to say the suit was “unfortunately dismissed” but that the office respected the ruling.
In the ruling from Judge Jennifer L. DeGroote, the court says the state didn’t sufficiently establish that TikTok’s statements about safety were made in Indiana or “directed at Indiana users specifically,” weakening its jurisdiction argument.
In December 2022, Rokita filed two challenges in an Allen County court against TikTok and sought a preliminary injunction, which was denied a few months later.
In an accompanying release, Rokita claimed the app contained more sexual content, profanity, and drug references than advertised — making it unsafe for children and violating the Indiana Deceptive Consumer Sales Act (DCSA). TikTok has a ‘T’ rating in app stores, meaning it’s available and considered safe for youth as young as 13.
In the second suit, Rokita said the company “deceived” consumers into believing their data collected by the app was protected from the Chinese government. ByteDance is headquartered in Beijing and some U.S. politicians worry the data stored by ByteDance could be exploited by the Chinese government.
In May, Allen County Superior Court Judge Craig Bobay denied the state’s motion for a preliminary injunction, due to the state’s unlikely success in court. Bobay also said the court lacked jurisdiction.
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