In a recent development, an Indiana lawsuit against TikTok was dismissed by Judge Jennifer DeGroote of Allen County Superior Court in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The state had accused TikTok of misleading claims about user data safety and age-appropriate content. The judge ruled that the court lacked personal jurisdiction over TikTok and that downloading a free app does not qualify as a “consumer transaction” under the Indiana Deceptive Consumer Sales Act. This decision, first reported by the Associated Press, marks a setback for the state’s legal action initiated in December 2022, which combined two lawsuits and represented the first major state-led legal challenge against the social media platform. Despite the dismissal, similar lawsuits continue in other states, including Arkansas and Utah.
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita’s office, while respecting the court’s decision, expressed disagreement and is contemplating an appeal. The office highlighted Indiana’s pioneering role in legally challenging TikTok and acknowledged the efforts of other states in addressing the perceived threats posed by foreign Big Tech companies.
The lawsuit had accused TikTok, owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance, of attracting young users with assurances of safety while exposing them to inappropriate content and collecting sensitive data, potentially accessible to the Chinese government and Communist Party. This case forms part of a broader scrutiny of social media platforms following revelations in 2021 about their potential negative impacts on young users’ mental health, as exposed by Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen.
Additionally, Indiana has joined other states in a lawsuit against Meta over concerns about Instagram’s addictive features and mental health effects on young users. The state has also taken proactive measures against TikTok by banning it on government-issued devices, citing national security concerns.
