Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti filed a motion on Tuesday in the Twentieth Judicial District of Tennessee as part of his office’s ongoing investigation into the social media platform TikTok.
In the motion filed on Tuesday, Skrmetti requested that the court provide “remedies” to address TikTok’s “failure to preserve and produce relevant evidence” in response to his office’s investigation of the company’s possible violation of Tennessee consumer protection laws.
.@AGTennessee's Office will not cease our ongoing effort to hold TikTok and big tech accountable for their misconduct.
We will continue our fight to reveal the truth about TikTok's impact on kids.
➡️https://t.co/PLAJDklNH0 pic.twitter.com/TywJBxBZpG
— TN Attorney General (@AGTennessee) October 8, 2024
Skrmetti’s office initially served TikTok with a Request for Information on March 2, 2022, to assist its investigation into the company.
Skrmetti’s office believes that TikTok may violate Tennessee’s Consumer Protection statute by “providing and promoting the use of its social media platform to minors, children and young adults in Tennessee and causing profound harm to these vulnerable users.”
Since then, TikTok has failed to preserve and produce relevant documents requested by Skrmetti’s office despite multiple court orders requiring the company to produce relevant evidence.
In addition to requesting the court issue an order compelling TikTok to produce numerous materials and evidence related to the attorney general office’s investigation, Skrmetti also requests that the court impose a civil penalty on TikTok of $1,000 for “spoliation of evidence.”
“Despite a court order and ample time to comply, TikTok continues to cover up the extent of its destruction of evidence and dodge our investigative demands as we fight to reveal the truth about TikTok’s impact on kids,” Skrmetti said in a statement.
“My Office will not cease our ongoing effort to hold TikTok and other social media companies accountable for their misconduct. Tennessee appreciates the 22 states who filed a brief supporting our effort to hold TikTok accountable,” Skrmetti added.
Skrmeti’s motion filed on Tuesday was supported by a multistate coalition of 22 state attorneys general who in return filed an amicus brief supporting Tennessee’s efforts to compel TikTok’s compliance with the court’s order.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
