14 Attorneys General Issue Lawsuit Against TikTok

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Published: 2026-09-13T11:35:23.842Z • Permanent link

Attorneys General from 14 US states have filed a lawsuit against TikTok, the social media platform owned by ByteDance, a Chinese technology company. The lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of California, alleges that TikTok has failed to comply with federal data protection laws, specifically the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union. The lawsuit seeks to ban TikTok from operating in the United States and to force ByteDance to divest its ownership of the platform.

At the center of the lawsuit is Shou Zi Chew, the CEO of TikTok, who has repeatedly denied that the company collects or stores user data in China, where ByteDance is headquartered. However, a report by the US government in 2020 found that ByteDance had retained control over user data, even after selling its US-based subsidiary, Musical.ly. The report also revealed that ByteDance had been sharing user data with its Chinese affiliates, raising concerns about national security and data protection.

Meanwhile, in the UK, a similar lawsuit was filed in 2021 by the UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), which alleged that TikTok had failed to comply with UK data protection laws. The NCSC had also warned that TikTok posed a significant risk to national security due to its ties to the Chinese government. The lawsuit against TikTok has sparked a wider debate about the role of social media companies in protecting user data and ensuring national security.

The lawsuit against TikTok has significant implications for the tech industry and for users around the world. Research communities have long warned about the risks of social media companies collecting and storing user data without proper consent or controls. The lawsuit highlights the need for stronger data protection laws and regulations that can prevent companies like TikTok from exploiting user data for their own gain.

Experts warn that the lawsuit could have far-reaching consequences for the tech industry, particularly for smaller companies that rely on social media platforms for advertising and marketing. The lawsuit could also lead to a wider crackdown on social media companies, forcing them to invest heavily in data protection and security measures. As a result, companies like Facebook and Twitter may be forced to re-examine their own data collection practices and invest more in user protection.

The lawsuit against TikTok is part of a broader pattern of regulatory scrutiny of social media companies in the US and Europe. In recent years, there have been several high-profile lawsuits against social media companies, including Facebook and Google, over data protection and privacy concerns. The EU's GDPR has also been at the forefront of this debate, with many companies struggling to comply with the regulation's strict data protection requirements.