Kansas Attorney General,Chris Kobach, is sueing TicTok. Kobach’s office announced the lawsuit yesterday,March 6th. It’s been filed in Shawnee County District Court. They are calling the social media company an ‘addictive app that is eroding the mental health of Kansas children and deceiving parents about the safety for kids’. Kobach claims the app hosts an array of sexual and otherwise inappropriate content that easily accessible by children, despite safety tools the company says it has in place to prevent that. He has filed for damages on 10 civil counts, each carrying fines of up to $20,000.
The lawsuit comes on the same day as a bipartisan group of federal lawmakers introduced legislation to potentially ban TicTok in the United States. It’s prompted by concerns that the parent company, BYT Dance may share user data with the Chinese government, claims that BYT Dance has long denied. This bill would require BYT Dance to divest TicTok or face the ban. The bill faces it’s first committee hearing and vote today.
