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Lawsuits involving TikTok

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TikTok has been involved in a number of lawsuits since its founding, with a number of them relating to TikTok's data collection techniques.

Tencent lawsuits

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Tencent's WeChat platform has been accused of blocking Douyin's videos.[1][2] In April 2018, Douyin sued Tencent and accused it of spreading false and damaging information on its WeChat platform, demanding CN¥1 million in compensation and an apology. In June 2018, Tencent filed a lawsuit against Toutiao and Douyin in a Beijing court, alleging they had repeatedly defamed Tencent with negative news and damaged its reputation, seeking a nominal sum of CN¥1 in compensation and a public apology.[3] In response, Toutiao filed a complaint the following day against Tencent for allegedly unfair competition and asking for CN¥90 million in economic losses.[4]

Data transfer class action lawsuit

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In November 2019, a class action lawsuit was filed in California that alleged that TikTok transferred personally identifiable information of U.S. persons to servers located in China owned by Tencent and Alibaba.[5][6][7] The lawsuit also accused ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, of taking user content without their permission. The plaintiff of the lawsuit, college student Misty Hong, downloaded the app but said she never created an account. She realized a few months later that TikTok had created an account for her using her information (such as biometrics) and made a summary of her information. The lawsuit also alleged that information was sent to Chinese tech giant Baidu.[8] In July 2020, twenty lawsuits against TikTok were merged into a single class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.[9] In February 2021, TikTok agreed to pay $92 million to settle the class action lawsuit.[10] The court approved the settlement in July 2022.[11]

Inappropriate content for minors

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In December 2022, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita filed two separate lawsuits against TikTok in the Allen County Superior Court in Fort Wayne, Indiana.[12] The first complaint alleged that the platform exposed inappropriate content to minors, and that TikTok "intentionally falsely reports the frequency of sexual content, nudity, and mature/suggestive themes" on their platform which made the app's "12-plus" age ratings on the Apple and Google app stores deceptive.[12][13] The second complaint alleged TikTok does not disclose the Chinese government's potential to access sensitive consumer information.[12][13] The two lawsuits were later consolidated and dismissed.[14] In dismissing the lawsuit in November 2023, the Superior Court cited that the court “lacks personal jurisdiction” over TikTok.[14]

In November 2024, a group of French families sued TikTok over exposing adolescents to harmful content, leading two to take their lives.[15] The families alleged TikTok's algorithm exposed the children to content promoting self-harm, eating disorders and suicide.[16]

Voice actor lawsuit

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In May 2021, Canadian voice actor Bev Standing filed a lawsuit against TikTok over the use of her voice in the text-to-speech feature without her permission. The lawsuit was filed in the Southern District of New York. TikTok declined to comment. Standing had taken up a contract with the Chinese government-run Institute of Acoustics narrating English for translations but says she never agreed for her voice to be used in other ways.[17] The voice used in the feature was subsequently changed.[18]

Collecting children's data

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In June 2021, the Netherlands-based Market Information Research Foundation (SOMI) filed a €1.4 billion lawsuit with an Amsterdam court on behalf of Dutch parents against TikTok, alleging that the app gathers data on children without adequate permission.[19] In interlocutory judgments issued in October 2023 and January 2024, the Amsterdam District Court allowed the claims of SOMI to proceed, along with those of the Foundation Take Back Your Privacy and the Foundation Mass Damage & Consumer.[20]

On August 2, 2024, the US Department of Justice sued TikTok for allegedly violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).[21] In October 2024, Texas sued TikTok, accusing it of violating state law by sharing children's personal identifying information without consent from their parents or legal guardians.[22] The same month, thirteen states and District of Columbia filed lawsuits against TikTok over mental health concerns involving minors.[23] One of the lawsuits, filed by the Attorney General of Kentucky, stated that TikTok developed an internal strategy to influence U.S. senator Mitch McConnell and other politicians.[24]

Blackout Challenge

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Multiple lawsuits have been filed against TikTok, accusing the platform of hosting content that led to the death of at least seven children.[25] The lawsuits claim that children died after attempting the "Blackout challenge", a TikTok trend that involves strangling or asphyxiating someone or themselves until they black out (passing out). TikTok stated that search queries for the challenge do not show any results, linking instead to protective resources, while the parents of two of the deceased argued that the content showed up on their children's TikTok feeds, without them searching for it.[26]

In May 2022, Tawainna Anderson, the mother of a 10-year-old girl from Pennsylvania, filed a lawsuit against TikTok in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.[27] Her daughter died while attempting the Blackout Challenge on TikTok.[28] The District Court dismissed the complaint in October 2022 and held that the Communications Decency Act, 47 U.S.C. § 230, immunizes TikTok.[28][27] On appeal, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reversed and remanded the case to the lower court in August 2024, holding that Section 230 only immunizes information provided by third parties and not recommendations made by TikTok's algorithm.[29][30]

According to The Independent, the Blackout Challenge reportedly was linked to the deaths of 20 children between 2021 and 2022, 15 of whom were under the age of 12.[31]

Discrimination

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In September 2023, two former ByteDance employees filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) asking the EEOC to investigate TikTok's practice of retaliation against workers who complain about discrimination.[32]

In February 2024, Katie Puris, a former senior executive at TikTok filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against the company, alleging discrimination based on age and gender.[33] Prior to this lawsuit, she had filed a complaint with the EEOC against the company in May 2023, alleging discrimination and retaliation.[33]

In August 2024, Olivia Anton Altamirano, a TikTok UK content moderator, sued the social media platform and its parent company, ByteDance Ltd., in the London employment tribunal, alleging disability discrimination and a toxic workplace culture that caused her stress and pregnancy complications.[34] TikTok denied the allegations. After a hearing, a UK judge allowed the case to proceed.[34]

Mental health of minors

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In May 2024, the Nebraska Attorney General filed a lawsuit against TikTok for allegedly harming minors' mental health through an algorithm designed to be cultivate compulsive behavior.[35]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Tencent and Toutiao come out swinging at each other". Archived from the original on 24 May 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  2. ^ "Tencent sues Toutiao for alleged defamation, demands 1 yuan and apology". Today. Archived from the original on 11 October 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  3. ^ Jiang, Sijia (1 June 2018). "Tencent sues Toutiao for alleged defamation, demands 1 yuan and apology". Reuters. Archived from the original on 11 October 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  4. ^ Yijun, Yin (4 June 2018). "Tencent and ByteDance Take Ongoing Feud to Court". Sixth Tone. Archived from the original on 25 November 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  5. ^ "TikTok sent user data to China, US lawsuit claims". BBC News. 3 December 2019. Archived from the original on 5 December 2019. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  6. ^ Montgomery, Blake (2 December 2019). "California Class-Action Lawsuit Accuses TikTok of Illegally Harvesting Data and Sending It to China". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on 3 December 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  7. ^ Chen, Angela (5 December 2019). "TikTok's second lawsuit in a week brings a US ban a shade closer". MIT Technology Review. Archived from the original on 22 August 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  8. ^ Narendra, Meera (4 December 2019). "#Privacy: TikTok found secretly transferring user data to China". Archived from the original on 22 August 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  9. ^ Allyn, Bobby (4 August 2020). "Class-Action Lawsuit Claims TikTok Steals Kids' Data And Sends It To China". NPR. Archived from the original on 22 August 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  10. ^ Allyn, Bobby (25 February 2021). "TikTok To Pay $92 Million To Settle Class-Action Suit Over 'Theft' Of Personal Data". NPR. Archived from the original on 26 February 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  11. ^ "In Re: TikTok, Inc., Consumer Privacy Litigation, No. 1:2020cv04699 - Document 161 (N.D. Ill. 2021)". Justia Law. Archived from the original on 2024-10-03. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  12. ^ a b c McDaniel, Justine. "Indiana sues TikTok, claiming it exposes children to harmful content". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 18 December 2022. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  13. ^ a b "TikTok sued by Indiana over security and safety concerns". BBC News. 8 December 2022. Archived from the original on 11 October 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  14. ^ a b "Indiana judge dismisses state's lawsuit against TikTok that alleged child safety, privacy concerns". AP News. 2023-11-29. Archived from the original on 2024-10-03. Retrieved 2024-09-08.
  15. ^ "French families sue TikTok over alleged failure to remove harmful content". Reuters. November 4, 2024. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
  16. ^ Armstrong, Kathryn (November 4, 2024). "French families sue TikTok over harmful content". BBC News. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  17. ^ Dunne, James (12 May 2021). "Why a Canadian actor is suing social media giant TikTok's parent company". CBC News. Archived from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  18. ^ Kastrenakes, Jacob (25 May 2021). "TikTok changes text-to-speech voice after voice actor sues". The Verge. Archived from the original on 7 August 2022. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  19. ^ Culatto, John (2 June 2021). "Dutch parents sue TikTok for €1.4 billion". Deutsche Welle. Archived from the original on 4 June 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  20. ^ "WAMCA case: SOMI v TikTok". ploum.nl. Archived from the original on 2024-10-03. Retrieved 2024-09-08.
  21. ^ Duffy, Clare (2 August 2024). "US government sues TikTok for allegedly violating children's privacy law | CNN Business". CNN. Archived from the original on 3 October 2024. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  22. ^ Stempel, Jonathan; Shepardson, David (October 3, 2024). "Texas sues TikTok for violating children's privacy". Reuters. Retrieved October 3, 2024.
  23. ^ "TikTok is designed to be addictive to kids and causes them harm, US states' lawsuits say". Associated Press. 2024-10-08. Retrieved 2024-10-08.
  24. ^ Goodman, Sylvia (October 18, 2024). "Kentucky TikTok suit says company considered using Ky. creators to sway Sen. Mitch McConnell". NPR. Retrieved October 19, 2024.
  25. ^ Carville, Olivia (30 November 2022). "TikTok's Viral Challenges Keep Luring Young Kids to Their Deaths". Bloomberg Businessweek. Archived from the original on 30 November 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  26. ^ Clark, Mitchell (7 July 2022). "The TikTok 'blackout challenge' has now allegedly killed seven kids". The Verge. Archived from the original on 8 July 2022. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  27. ^ a b "ANDERSON v. TIKTOK, INC., 2:22-cv-01849 - CourtListener.com". CourtListener. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  28. ^ a b Pierson, Brendan (October 27, 2022). "TikTok immune from lawsuit over girl's death from 'blackout challenge' -judge". Reuters. Retrieved August 28, 2024.
  29. ^ Raymond, Nate (August 28, 2024). "TikTok must face lawsuit over 10-year-old girl's death, US court rules". Reuters. Retrieved August 28, 2024.
  30. ^ "Anderson v. TikTok Inc, No. 22-3061 (3d Cir. 2024)". Justia Law. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  31. ^ "TikTok's 'blackout' challenge linked to deaths of 20 children in 18 months – report". The Independent. 2022-12-01. Archived from the original on 2024-10-03. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  32. ^ "Black creators built TikTok. But Black employees say they experienced 'toxicity and racism'". CNN. September 21, 2023. Archived from the original on March 15, 2024. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
  33. ^ a b "Former TikTok executive sues the company for alleged gender and age discrimination". CNN. February 9, 2024. Archived from the original on March 15, 2024. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
  34. ^ a b Trivedi, Upmanyu (2024-08-28). "TikTok Sued in UK by Content Moderator Alleging Toxic Workplace". BNN Bloomberg. Retrieved 2024-09-08.
  35. ^ Avila, Joseph De (May 22, 2024). "Nebraska Sues TikTok for Allegedly Harming Minors". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 2024-05-22. Retrieved 2024-05-23.
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