An attorney for social media giant TikTok asked a Lancaster County judge Wednesday to dismiss the Nebraska attorney general’s civil case against the company, calling the allegations the state leveled within it a matter of opinion and “puffery.”
“This type of claim is simply not cognizable as a misrepresentation under consumer protection laws,” Los Angeles-based attorney Blaine Evanson told District Judge Lori Maret.
“Defendants cannot be allowed to mislead Nebraskans about the safety of TikTok, to fuel a youth mental health crisis in Nebraska, to interfere with the rights of Nebraska’s parents and guardians to protect their children, and to hide the evidence,” the complaint said.
To put an end to the alleged wrongdoing, the attorney general’s office said it was seeking civil penalties and injunctive relief under the state’s Consumer Protection Act and Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act, likening the case to claims brought in the ’90s against Big …