The Kentucky Attorney General’s office, as well as 12 other states and the District of Columbia, have all filed separate lawsuits against the social media platform TikTok, alleging its algorithm has addictive properties and has violated consumer protection laws.
Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman highlighted the lawsuit during his visit to the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce government forum on Wednesday.
Coleman spoke about drugs, violent crime and recent legislation banning AI-produced child pornography and child sex dolls during his visit. Most of his speech, however, focused on TikTok, which he characterized as an “addiction machine” and a tool by which the Chinese government undermined national security.
“China’s actions are carefully calculated, not only to give it a competitive advantage but to harm this nation,” Coleman said. “We have to view TikTok in this context. It’s just another tool in their toolkit.”
He also spoke about what he considers the platform’s harmful effects on children’s and teenagers’ mental health.
“It’s a specifically and specially designed tool crafted to suck in minors, leading to depression, anxiety, altered development and even more negative modalities,” Coleman said.
“We’re dragging those behind this social media platform to court just down the road, just down I-75 in Georgetown, Kentucky,” Coleman said. “We’re going to force them to answer for creating and pushing an app designed specifically to addict and harm Kentucky’s children.”
The suits were all filed on Tuesday. You can read the Kentucky attorney general’s full complaint below.