Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a second lawsuit against the social media platform TikTok, according to a news release Thursday.
Paxton claimed in the suit that TikTok shows “inappropriate and explicit material” to minors while also deceiving parents.
Here’s what we know.
What’s in the new lawsuit?
Paxton accuses TikTok of violating the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, claiming the app “deceives” parents and children by marketing the app toward children and including explicit content to minors.
“TikTok actively worked to deceive parents and lure children onto their app despite the presence of an overwhelming amount of profane and illicit material,” Paxton wrote in a news release Thursday afternoon. “Companies may not jeopardize the health and wellbeing of Texas children by blatantly lying about the products they provide.”
Tik Tok’s age rating requires users to input a birthdate showing they are at least 13 years old, and Apple’s app store markets the app for users 12 years old and older, the lawsuit reads.
The lawsuit read that the state did its own investigation into TikTok, which found large quantities of inappropriate or explicit content — tobacco, drug and alcohol references, profanity or crude humor, sexual content or nudity, and mature or suggestive themes, according to the lawsuit — are accessible on the app to users of all ages.
The suit alleges that the app’s allowance for users to link out their videos draws minors and users toward more inappropriate content off TikTok’s platform and encourages the spread of child sexual abuse material and pornography.
Paxton accused the app of failing to note the addictive aspects of the app for personal financial gain.
“TikTok designs its app to be addictive, including to minors, is aware that minors in fact do become addicted to its app, and fails to inform minors and their parents about the app’s addictive qualities. …,” the suit read. “As a result, TikTok has intentionally designed its product to pander to minor and adult users’ dopamine reward systems, tethering them to the app, where they will be shown more advertisements, which increases TikTok’s revenue and profits.”
TikTok has a content moderation policy, which states every video is reviewed by automated systems that can remove a video altogether or flag it to be reviewed by a moderator. Paxton’s suit claims that the app suffers from “leakage,” where violative content slips through the automated systems and appears on feeds.
Paxton’s filing also includes several examples of content available on the app, including quotes related to sexual content as well as discriminatory and racist remarks. Large portions of the suit are redacted.
TikTok has not responded to a request for comment about the new lawsuit as of Thursday afternoon.
The suit accuses TikTok of 10 violations of the Deceptive Trade Practices Act:
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Alcohol, tobacco and drug references.
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Sexual content and nudity.
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Mature/suggestive themes.
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Profanity or crude humor.
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Cumulative deceptive representations.
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Failure to disclose information concerning goods or services.
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Omission of addictiveness and other mental health problems.
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Deception and omission of information from community guidelines.
Paxton is seeking a jury trial and civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation.
Read the full filing here.
What is the Deceptive Trade Practices Act?
The Deceptive Trade Practices Act, also called DTPA, details business practices that are deemed “false, deceptive or misleading,” allowing the state of Texas and others to sue businesses when they fall victim to practices covered by the act.
The act itself, while not all encompassing, is broad. DTPA declares “false, misleading, or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce” as unlawful.
It protects consumers against:
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Deceptive or misleading advertising.
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Unfair business practices.
What was in Paxton’s first suit?
Paxton filed a suit against TikTok in October, accusing the app of violating Texas’ Securing Children Online Through Parental Empowerment, or SCOPE, Act.
More: Texas AG Ken Paxton sues TikTok for violating the SCOPE Act. Here’s what it means
The SCOPE Act restricts digital service providers, like social media companies, from collecting and sharing minor’s personal data without parents permission. The act also requires providers to ban targeted advertising, require parental consent for financial transactions and block access to content related to suicide, substance abuse and grooming.
In July, tech groups NetChoice and the Computer and Communications Industry Association filed a suit to block the SCOPE Act, saying it unlawfully restricted free expression. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression also filed a lawsuit against the Act.
A month later, U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman issued an injunction against the law while NetChoice’s case continues.
Who owns TikTok?
TikTok’s current parent company is the Chines company ByteDance. But a new owner could come soon.
Last spring, President Joe Biden signed a law requiring ByteDance to sell the app by Jan. 19 of this year. If ByteDance fails to do so, the app will be banned in the U.S. and will no longe be available to download from app stores and unavailable to access on internet browsers.
A new investor though expressed interest earlier this week in a plan to purchase TikTok. Kevin O’Leary, known as “Mr. Wonderful” on “Shark Tank” announced that he was joining billionaire Frank McCourt in a plan to buy the app.
More: ‘Shark Tank’ host Kevin O’Leary wants to help buy TikTok. Here’s what to know
McCourt is the founder of Project Liberty and is executive chairman of McCourt Global. He announced in December that he was building a group of associates to purchase TikTok. McCourt has claimed he has received verbal commitments totaling up to $20 billion for the purchase, according to the Project Liberty website.
O’Leary told Fox News Monday that he and McCourt will need to work with President-elect Donald Trump to purchase the app successfully. Trump has asked the U.S. Supreme Court, which is reviewing the ban Friday, to pause the legislation.
“This isn’t just about buying TikTok’s U.S. assets,” O’Leary posted on X Monday. “It’s about something much bigger: protecting the privacy of 170 million American users. It’s about empowering creators and small businesses. And it’s about building a platform that prioritizes people over algorithms.”
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas AG Ken Paxton files new suit against TikTok for explicit content