‘This isn’t about free speech. I’m sure they’re gonna holler that’: Minnesota sues TikTok, accusing it of preying on the young

Law·Social Media‘This isn’t free speech

AP Photo/Steve KarnowskiMinnesota on Tuesday joined a wave of states suing TikTok, alleging the social media giant preys on young people with addictive algorithms that trap them into becoming compulsive consumers of its short s. “This isn’t free speech

I’m sure they’re gonna holler that,” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said at a news conference. “It’s actually deception, manipulation, misrepresentation

This is a company knowing the dangers, and the dangerous effects of its duct, but making and taking no steps to mitigate those harms or inform users of the risks.” The lawsuit, filed in state court, alleges that TikTok is violating Minnesota laws against deceptive trade practices and consumer fraud

It s a flurry of lawsuits filed by more than a dozen states last year alleging the short-form app is designed to be addictive to kids and harms their mental health

Minnesota’s case brings the total to 24 states, Ellison’s office said

Ellison, a Democrat, said Minnesota waited while it did its own investigation

Sean Padden, a middle-school health teacher in the Roseville Area school district, joined Ellison, saying he has witnessed a correlation between increased TikTok use and an “irrefutable spike in student mental health issues,” including depression, anxiety, anger, lowered self-esteem and a decrease in attention spans as they seek out the quick gratification that its short s offer

The lawsuit comes while President Donald Trump is still trying to broker a deal to bring the social media platform, which is owned by China’s ByteDance, under American ownership over concerns the data security of its 170 million American users

No matter who ultimately owns TikTok, Ellison said, it must comply with the law

TikTok disputed Minnesota’s allegations. “This lawsuit is based on misleading and inaccurate claims that fail to recognize the robust safety measures TikTok has voluntarily implemented to support the well-being of our community,” company spokesperson Nathaniel Brown said in a statement. “Teen accounts on TikTok come with 50+ features and settings designed to help young people safely express themselves, discover and learn. “Through our Family Pairing tool, parents can view or customize 20+ content and privacy settings, including screen time, content s, and our time away feature to pause a teen’s access to our app,” Brown added

Ellison wouldn’t put a total on that but said, “it’s a lot.” He estimated that “hundreds of thousands of Minnesota kids” have TikTok on their devices. “We’re not trying to shut them down, but we are insisting that they clean up their act,” Ellison said. “There are legitimate uses of ducts TikTok

But all things, they have to be used perly and safely.” Minnesota is also among dozens of U.S. states that have sued Meta Platforms for allegedly building features into Instagram and Facebook that addict people

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