N.C. AG Hails Judge’s Order Directing TikTok to Comply With His Probe Into Child Protections

North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein (D) won an order Dec. 12 from Wake County Superior Court Judge Jonathan Perry directing TikTok to produce documents and other materials by Tuesday that Stein sought in a Sept. 23 “civil investigation demand” into allegations that TikTok violated consumer protection laws. A bipartisan group of attorneys general found in their investigation that TikTok had a secret archive of thousands of recorded internal Zoom meetings that it initially failed to disclose for nearly a year and a half. According to Stein’s office, the videos showed that TikTok executives and employees knew and discussed how their platform addicts and harms children, that the safety features TikTok promotes to parents are ineffective, and that TikTok’s business goals are more important to the company than concerns about children’s safety. Perry specifically ordered TikTok to produce all recordings of Zoom meetings it held between November 2017 and the present. “Keeping North Carolina children safe is job one -- wherever they are, including online,” said Stein in a statement Friday. “TikTok does not get to choose which parts of the law it complies with, and I’m pleased that the judge is requiring them to comply with my investigative demand. We’re going full steam ahead in our investigation to protect our kids.”