SALT LAKE CITY — Utah has filed a second lawsuit against TikTok, alleging that the popular social media platform knowingly “operates in part like a virtual strip club” and allows for the sexual exploitation of young users, Gov. Spencer Cox and Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes announced Monday.
The attorney general’s office filed a lawsuit in Utah’s 3rd District Court on Monday on behalf of the Utah Department of Commerce’s Division of Consumer Protection accusing the social media giant of violating the state’s Consumer Sales Practices Act by “profiting from deceptive design features that facilitate sexual exploitation, sex trafficking, the distribution of pornography, and other illegal acts through its virtual currency system.”
The lawsuit revolves around a feature called TikTok Live, through which users of the app can livestream videos of themselves and viewers can send money to those sharing videos. The complaint says users can purchase coins on the app which can they be used to send virtual “gifts” to streamers.