In this 2020 photo illustration, the TikTok app is displayed on an Apple iPhone. (Photo Illustration by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Utah’s lawsuit against TikTok will move forward after a judge on Tuesday denied the social media company’s motion to dismiss.
In October 2023, Utah sued TikTok over alleged “addictive features” designed to keep children and teens on the app for as long as possible, promoting “endless scrolling” while downplaying the platform’s harm to young people.
In court documents, Utah called TikTok “digital nicotine” for young people.
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The following December, TikTok filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit that, among other things, argued that Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act shields the company from liability. Section 230 essentially sought to hold the speaker responsible for any harmful online speech, not the host or website, and TikTok claimed the lawsuit targeted it for publishing third-party content.