Press Releases

Attorney General William Tong

09/19/2023

TikTok Refusing to Cooperate with Investigation: Attorney General Tong Supports Motion to Compel TikTok to Comply with Agreed Order

(Hartford, CT) –Attorney General William Tong today supported a motion filed by the Tennessee Attorney General in Tennessee state court to compel TikTok to comply with the terms of an April 17, 2023 Agreed Order requiring TikTok to produce witnesses and documents in response to an investigative Request for Information. This effort is part of a broad bi-partisan multistate investigation into TikTok’s possible violation of consumer protection laws of Connecticut and other states.

The motion asks the Tennessee state court to compel TikTok to comply with the terms of the April 17, 2023 Agreed Order requiring TikTok to produce documents and a witness to answer questions under oath about TikTok’s potential destruction of relevant evidence during the course of this investigation.

TikTok failed to comply with the Agreed Order by not providing a knowledgeable witness who could testify about the events leading up to TikTok’s destruction of potentially relevant evidence, the extent of the deletion of relevant evidence, including communications TikTok employees had internally, and whether the deleted material can be restored. Additionally, TikTok has failed to produce full and complete copies of relevant documents.

“In coordination with state attorneys general nationwide, our investigation is working to uncover exactly what TikTok knows about the risks to our kids, and what they’ve done—or failed to do—to protect American youth. We have serious concerns regarding destruction of relevant evidence, and TikTok’s failure to cooperate with this law enforcement investigation. If TikTok cannot comply with court orders, we will use the full weight of our authority to hold TikTok accountable,” said Attorney General Tong.

The original motion was supported by a coalition of 46 attorneys general. This latest filing can be found here.
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