LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The Arkansas Supreme Court has allowed the state’s lawsuit against TikTok to proceed, rejecting the social media platform’s request for expedited judicial review. The ruling, issued on Thursday, means the legal battle over TikTok’s alleged deceptive practices will continue in lower courts.
The high court determined that TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, can address the issues related to the lawsuit in regular appeal proceedings, rather than through an emergency motion. Justice Barbara W. Webb noted in the court’s four-page ruling that the petitioners have other legal remedies available to them.
Arkansas filed the lawsuit in March 2023, contending that TikTok misrepresented the safety of its platform to minors and their parents, thereby breaching the state’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The suit alleges that TikTok has downplayed the frequency and intensity of potentially harmful content available on the app, misleading Arkansas consumers in the process.
In earlier court proceedings, TikTok attempted to dismiss the case on jurisdictional grounds, arguing that the Cleburne County court did not have the authority to hear the case since state officials had not sufficiently demonstrated that the claims arose from TikTok’s activities within Arkansas. However, Cleburne County Circuit Judge Holly Meyer ruled in 2024 that there was enough evidence of the company’s business operations in the state to proceed.
TikTok also posited that there was no other way to prevent the circuit court from improperly adjudicating the matter. However, the Supreme Court found that jurisdictional issues do not constitute extraordinary circumstances warranting an emergency appeal, as such matters typically hinge on the factual connections between a party and the state.
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin commended the court’s decision. He stated that it is a step toward holding TikTok accountable for allegedly misleading Arkansas residents about the app’s risks, particularly for children.
The lawsuit claims that TikTok has inaccurately described various content types, such as references to alcohol, drugs, and sexually suggestive themes, as being infrequent, when they occur regularly on the platform, potentially affecting younger users.
TikTok continues to face scrutiny from both state and federal levels over its perceived addictiveness and its ties to the Chinese government. In April 2024, President Joe Biden enacted legislation allowing the U.S. government to ban TikTok in major app stores if it is not sold to a non-Chinese entity.
Requests for comments directed to TikTok were not immediately answered.
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