Keith Ellison TikTok

By Bill Lukitsch
The Minnesota Star Tribune

(The Minnesota Star Tribune) — Social media giant TikTok will need to provide the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office with internal documents as part of a case brought by the state after a Hennepin County judge ruled the civil lawsuit may proceed.

Tiktok, the mega-popular short-form video purveyor, faces a lawsuit from Minnesota over the way it markets and supplies social media posts to children. The state alleges TikTok’s platform is inherently addictive and the company does too little to safeguard young people.

Earlier this month, the county judge declined TikTok’s motion to dismiss the state’s case, clearing the way for the sides to begin exchanging internal documents as part of discovery. Attorney General Keith Ellison celebrated the ruling.

“TikTok has designed its product to be harmfully addictive in order to maximize its own profits,” Ellison said in a statement Monday, adding: “This ruling puts us one step closer to ensuring TikTok stops preying on Minnesota children.”

TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company has defended its business practices in court, saying the First Amendment and other legal grounds protect it, which the judge ruled against.

Minnesota alleges TikTok tailored its platform in a way to keep children, especially adolescents between 13 and 17 years old, constantly engaged. Unhealthy social media use is increasingly linked to depression and anxiety.

Keith Ellison TikTok

The state points to emerging studies on the topic, including one conducted in 2023 at the University of Minnesota that compared the social media platform to a “runaway train.” The state Attorney General’s Office also put together reports in recent years sounding alarm over social media use among Minnesota children in particular.

Parents and other states are suing TikTok and rival social media companies over concerns about use among children. In New Mexico, California-based social media conglomerate Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, is on trial facing similar allegations over safety risks to children.

Minnesota’s lawsuit claims TikTok designed a platform inviting “infinite scroll,” used algorithms meant to hook children and misrepresented how well its parental-control safeguards work. It also accuses the company of unlawfully operating a virtual currency business with purchases made through its application.

TikTok wanted the state’s lawsuit thrown out. The company argued protections under Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act shield TikTok from being considered a publisher responsible for what people post on its platform. It also argued this protection extended to its algorithm designed to issue recommendations to users.

Hennepin County District Judge Rachna Sullivan rejected the company’s legal theory. She said in her ruling the state can sue under consumer protection laws and another law concerning money transmission.

The state intends to seek discovery materials from TikTok following the court ruling.

In bringing the TikTok lawsuit, Ellison has described the social media platform as “digital nicotine,” comparing TikTok and its Big Tech rivals to Big Tobacco.