INDIANAPOLIS (AP) 鈥 The fate of the Indiana attorney general鈥檚 lawsuit against the social media company TikTok is uncertain after a federal judge lambasted much of the case as 鈥減olitical posturing.鈥
While U.S. District Judge Holly Brady ruled against TikTok's request to move the case to federal court, that decision leaves the lawsuit brought by Republican Attorney General Todd Rokita in the hands of a county judge who last month on two key points. The state attorney general claims the Chinese-owned video-sharing platform misleads users about its level of inappropriate content and about the security of consumer information. A county judge has already said the attorney general is wrong to classify downloading TikTok as a consumer transaction because no money is exchanged, and that Indiana lacks standing in the case because both TikTok and Apple 鈥 the company where people download the app 鈥 are based in California.
The most recent blow came May 23, when Brady wrote in a decision that 鈥渕ore than 90% of the (lawsuit) was devoted to irrelevant posturing."
鈥淲hen one wades through the political posturing and finds that legal claim, the inescapable conclusion is that the claim rises and falls on matters particular to state law," Brady, a Fort Wayne, Indiana-based judge nominated by then-President Donald Trump, wrote. "The federal intrigue interjected by Indiana may interest its intended audience -- one beyond the courthouse wall -- but it is irrelevant to the determination of this case.鈥
Indiana's lawsuit, which was filed in December, makes and government officials who have said they worry that the Chinese government and use the platform to push pro-Beijing misinformation or messages to the public. TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese tech giant ByteDance, has said it has never been asked to hand over its data to the Chinese government and has denied Indiana's claims about inappropriate content.
The state attorney general鈥檚 office did not immediately comment Monday on Brady鈥檚 decision or the lawsuit鈥檚 future. TikTok鈥檚 attorneys and the ByteDance media office didn鈥檛 immediately reply to requests for comment either.
Brady鈥檚 decision keeps the lawsuit in state courts, where a judge last month denied Rokita鈥檚 request for a preliminary injunction prohibiting TikTok from stating in online app stores that it has 鈥渘one鈥 or 鈥渋nfrequent/mild鈥 references to drugs, sexual or other inappropriate content for children as young as 12.
Judge Craig Bobay of Allen County Superior Court in Fort Wayne also ruled that downloading TikTok鈥檚 free app doesn鈥檛 amount to a consumer transaction and said the attorney general鈥檚 office was unlikely to win at trial.
The attorney general's office hasn't said whether it will appeal Bobay's decision.
