EL DORADO, Ark. (Legal Newsline) - Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin wants his state's lawsuit against TikTok sent back to be heard in the state court in which it was first filed.
Griffin filed a motion to remand June 8 in federal court, where TikTok and ByteDance would prefer to defend themselves from accusations they deceived users about the risk of access to and exploitation of consumers' content and data by the Chinese government.
TikTok removed the case from Union County Circuit Court to U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas on May, saying Griffin's allegations raise disputed and substantial federal questions.
"This argument is meritless, as another federal court recently recognized in the exact same posture," Griffin wrote, citing a similar case against TikTok by the State of Indiana.
"Federal-question jurisdiction requires a question of federal law, and no such question can be found in the complaint," the motion to remand says. "Whether TikTok is liable under Arkansas law for deceiving Arkansas consumers does not depend on the construction of any federal statute or other source of federal law.
"Nor is it one of the limited subjects that arise under federal common law, which the complaint does not invoke."
The case makes seven claims under Arkansas state law and seeks to have TikTok eliminate all such user info that can be exploited by the Chinese government.
Griffin and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced three lawsuits in May - two against TikTok and one against Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. They say they exploited youths' growing addiction to their platforms for profit while escaping government oversight.
“TikTok is deceiving the public regarding the harmful content it is putting in the hands of our kids, and it is deceiving the public about its ties to the Chinese Communist Party," Griffin said. "Protecting Arkansas’s youth is my highest calling, and I look forward to the fight.”