The US state of Alabama is suing TikTok and its parent company
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced last week that the state will sue the Chinese companies TikTok and ByteDance for causing a mental health crisis affecting Alabama youth.
The Alabama lawsuit alleges that popular short-video platform TikTok's algorithm is designed to keep children addicted to the app's content, with an endless stream of content promoting depression, eating disorders, self-harm and drug use.
The lawsuit stated that the protection measures imposed by “Tik Tok” on minors are easy to circumvent, and that they do not provide adequate protection for young users, according to a report by the American “USA Today” news website, which was viewed by “Al Arabiya Business.”
The lawsuit also alleges that TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, collects sensitive data on Americans and may share it with the Chinese government.
Attorney General Marshall said that given ByteDance's headquarters are in China, the company is subject to laws requiring companies to cooperate with Chinese intelligence services.
Marshall accused TikTok and ByteDance of engaging in espionage activities by exploiting personal information, especially the data of minors.
The lawsuit seeks civil penalties under the Alabama Trade Fraud Practices Act and monetary damages to the state. The lawsuit also seeks an injunction requiring TikTok to stop what the state calls deceptive practices related to youth safety.
This lawsuit comes in light of the ambiguity surrounding the fate of “Tik Tok” in the United States since the issuance of a law in 2024 requiring ByteDance to withdraw its investments from the application. US President Donald Trump twice extended the deadline granted to ByteDance to reach a deal to sell TikTok's business in the United States, so that the current deadline expires by June 19.
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