JAKARTA - As many as 45 state attorneys in the United States on Monday, March 6 demanded the social media application TikTok owned by a Chinese company, ByteDance, to produce requested materials in ongoing consumer protection investigations across the country.
According to Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, these states wish to review TikTok's internal communications to determine whether the company engages in misleading behavior that harms the mental health of TikTok users, particularly children, and adolescents.
On Monday, the states urged the Tennessee state court to compel TikTok to answer requests for information.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the petition alleges TikTok failed to retain some potentially relevant evidence, including employee internal chat messages "and obstructed investigations of Tennessee and other states throughout the country, including California."
When confirmed by Reuters, TikTok itself has not yet commented.
In March 2022, eight states, including California and Massachusetts, said they had launched a nationwide, bipartisan investigation into TikTok. They focused on whether the popular video-sharing app caused physical or mental harm to young people.
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Last week, TikTok said it was developing a tool that would let parents prevent their teens from viewing content containing certain words or hashtags on the app's short videos, as the ailing company tries to strengthen its public image.
TikTok, which is owned by Chinese technology company ByteDance, is facing renewed scrutiny around the world for its proximity to the Chinese government and protection of user data.
The app, hugely popular with young users, has been banned from government-owned phones in the US, Canada and other countries due to security concerns. Last week, a US House of Representatives committee voted to give President Joe Biden new powers to ban TikTok.
Like other social media apps, TikTok has also come under fire for not adequately protecting teenagers from inappropriate content. Parents will also now be able to set custom time limits for their teen's TikTok usage depending on the day of the week, the company said.
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