Utah sues TikTok, saying it operates as ‘virtual strip club,’ exploits children

Bridger Beal-Cvetko, KSL.com

SALT LAKE CITY (KSL.com) — Utah has revenge a 2nd suit against TikTok, alleging that nan celebrated societal media level knowingly “operates successful portion for illustration a virtual portion club” and allows for nan intersexual exploitation of young users, Gov. Spencer Cox and Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes announced Monday.

The lawyer general’s agency revenge a suit successful Utah’s 3rd District Court connected Monday connected behalf of nan Utah Department of Commerce’s Division of Consumer Protection accusing nan societal media elephantine of violating nan state’s Consumer Sales Practices Act by “profiting from deceptive creation features that facilitate intersexual exploitation, activity trafficking, nan distribution of pornography, and different forbidden acts done its virtual rate system.”

The suit revolves astir a characteristic called TikTok Live, done which users of nan app tin livestream videos of themselves and viewers tin nonstop money to those sharing videos. The title says users tin acquisition coins connected nan app which tin they beryllium utilized to nonstop virtual “gifts” to streamers.

“TikTok makes these animated gifts moreover much tempting by designing them for illustration cute, colorful emojis reminiscent of cartoons and Disney characters — intelligibly aimed astatine children,” according to nan lawsuit, overmuch of which was redacted.

Although TikTok limits nan monetization features of streaming to users astatine slightest 18 years old, nan title alleges nan institution “refuses to enforce meaningful and effective oversight of users’ ages.”

“In countless livestreams, minors person been encouraged by adults to — among different illicit acts — strip, dispersed their legs, and flash assemblage parts to nan camera, successful speech for virtual gifts,” nan title states.

The suit besides alleges nan level “easily facilitates forbidden supplier income successful Utah” and said an interrogator posing arsenic a 17-year-old boy successful Utah was “quickly approached by dealers connected nan level offering a laundry database of narcotics for shipment.”

“I find nan caller allegations against TikTok Live not simply concerning but incredibly disturbing,” Cox said. “Such disregard for nan information of young users connected nan platform, overmuch little profiting disconnected their exploitation, cannot and will not beryllium tolerated. We will return each basal actions to protect them from TikTok’s egregious behavior.”

Utah previously sued TikTok, which is owned by Chinese institution ByteDance, successful October, alleging nan institution intentionally designed features that are addictive to children. The allegations of known exploitation of minors stem from investigations of those earlier allegations.

“TikTok has created a virtual portion nine allowing minors to beryllium exploited crossed America by connecting guiltless victims to predators successful existent time,” Reyes said. “Adding reproach to injury, Live facilitates money laundering while TikTok softly charges 50% connected each transaction to profit successful nan billions from nan full enterprise. Our investigation confirmed TikTok knows of nan harm to young victims but feels it makes acold excessively overmuch money to stop. There are truthful galore layers of harm successful its practices that we cannot hold a time longer to act.”

“This suit is conscionable 1 of galore ways we are fighting for kid information online,” he continued.

TikTok did not respond to a petition for comment.

In summation to suing TikTok, Utah is portion of a multistate lawsuit against Meta Platforms Inc., nan genitor institution of Instagram and Facebook, complete akin allegations of creation features that are addictive to children and teens. The Utah Legislature has besides adopted an fierce posture toward societal media, passing a brace of first-in-the-nation societal media regulations past year. Those laws were revamped during nan caller legislative convention to make it easier for parents of teenagers to writer societal platforms, while giving safe harbor to companies that instrumentality a bid of features including parental consent and removing features that origin “excessive use.”

The astir caller title seeks to extremity TikTok’s allegedly forbidden practices and require nan institution to forfeit money “wrongfully obtained by profiting from forbidden activity connected its platform,” according to a news merchandise from nan Department of Commerce.

“The Division of Consumer Protection’s investigation into TikTok’s practices different continues,” nan merchandise states.