Indiana blocks TikTok on devices in the state

Indianapolis— Indiana blocked the platform app Tick ​​tockowned by China, on devices in the state, the local technology bureau said on Friday.

The Indiana Bureau of Technology “blocked the use of TikTok on our state system and devices in our state” as of Dec. 7, agency spokesman Graig Lubsen told The Journal Gazette.

The Technology Office “constantly tests the state system and ensures that its integrity is intact,” Lubsen said in an email to the outlet.

The measure was taken the same day the Indiana Attorney General sued short-video platform TikTok after accusing it of deceiving its users.especially children, on the level of inappropriate content and on the safety of consumer information.

Republican Attorney General Todd Rokita said in a complaint that while the short-video app claims it is safe for users 13 and older, it makes “spacious and inappropriate content” available to young users “for periods of unlimited time, day or night, in an attempt to line TikTok’s pockets with billions of dollars from US consumers.”

Rokita argued in a separate complaint that the app keeps users’ sensitive personal information but misleads them into thinking it’s protected.

“At the very least, the company owes consumers the truth about the age-appropriateness of its content and the unsafeness of the data it collects from them,” Rokita said in a statement.

TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company that moved its headquarters to Singapore in 2020.

The app has come under scrutiny by Republicans who say the Chinese government may be accessing user data such as search history and location.

The US military has also banned the app on military devices.

At the time, Tiktok said in a statement that its “top priority” was “the safety, privacy and protection of our community.”