STATE OF MONTANA FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND

TO: TikTok, Inc.

10100 Venice Boulevard
Suite 401
Culver City, CA 90232
(Sent via Certified Mail)

RE: Investigation Regarding Potential Violations by TikTok of Montana Unfair Trade

Practices and Consumer Protection Act

YOU ARE HEREBY COMMANDED to respond in writing to the demands for infor-
mation contained herein and to produce or otherwise make available for examination
and copying the documents requested herein. This Investigative Demand consists of
forty-four (44) pages total.

Your responses and document production must be made in accordance with the en-
closed instructions. Your responses also must be made under oath by having one or
more authorized persons complete and have notarized the verification form provided
herein. Submit your completed responses, verification(s), and document production
by hand delivery, mail, or (with prior consent of the Attorney General’s Office) email
to [email protected]:

Joshua Pierson
c/o Montana Attorney General’s Office
215 N Sanders Street
P.O. Box 201401
Helena, Montana 59620-1401

to be received on or before 5:00 p.m. MST on March 28, 2022.

This Investigative Demand is made pursuant to Mont. Code Ann. §§ 30-14-113 and
30-14-114, in connection with an investigation under Montana Unfair Trade Prac-
tices and Consumer Protection Act (Mont. Code Ann. § 30-14-103 et seq.). Your

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
215 North Sanders (406) 444-2026
PO Box 201401 [email protected]
Helena, MT 59620-1401 mtdoj.gov
refusal or failure to comply with this Investigative Demand may subject you to the
proceedings and penalties provided by law. See, e.g., Mont. Code Ann. § 30-14-134.
Fifth Amendment and Montana Constitutional Privileges Against Self-Incrimina-
tion. The information you provide in response to this Investigative Demand may be
used against you in a civil or criminal proceeding brought by the Attorney General or
any other local, state, or federal agency with whom it shares information. The Fifth
Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article 2, Section 25 of the Mon-
tana Constitution contain privileges that allow you to refuse to provide information
that may tend to prove you committed a crime or subject you to a fine, penalty, or
forfeiture. If you intend to assert these privileges, do so in your response to this In-
vestigative Demand expressly and in accordance with paragraph 5 of the instructions
below.

Obligation To Preserve. Do not destroy or otherwise lose from your possession, cus-
tody, or control any documents that may be relevant or responsive to the following
demands for information or requests to produce documents. Notify the Attorney Gen-
eral’s Office immediately of any such loss or destruction.

If you have any questions regarding this Investigative Demand, please contact
Joshua Pierson at the below contact information.

DATED this 24th day of February 2022.

___________________________________
AUSTIN KNUDSEN
Montana Attorney General

KRISTIN HANSEN
Lieutenant General

DAVID M.S. DEWHIRST

Solicitor General

JOSHUA PIERSON
Assistant Attorney General
215 North Sanders Street
P.O. Box 201401
Helena, Montana 59620-1401
[email protected]
406-444-9637

STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 2

COMPLETE AND HAVE NOTARIZED THE FOLLOWING VERIFICATION
FORM. IF A VERIFICATION ONLY APPLIES TO CERTAIN RESPONSES,
COMPLETE AND HAVE NOTARIZED ADDITIONAL VERIFICATION(S) SO
THAT ALL OF THE RESPONSES ARE SUPPORTED BY A VERIFICATION.
SUBMIT THE COMPLETED VERIFICATION(S) WITH YOUR RESPONSES.

VERIFICATION OF RESPONSE

STATE OF ___________________)
) §:
COUNTY OF _________________)

The undersigned, being first placed under oath, deposes and says the following.
He/she makes this verification on behalf of him/herself (if he/she is the person to
whom the Investigative Demand is directed) or on behalf of the entity to which the
Investigative Demand is directed. If responding on behalf of an entity, he/she is au-
thorized to do so.

He/she has read the Investigative Demand, and [check which is appropriate]

___ the responses to all of the demands or

___ the responses to demand(s) __________________________________ (list the

number(s) of the demands to which this verification applies and submit addi-
tional verification(s) so that all responses are supported by a verification)

and the facts and other matters set forth in those responses (other than objections,
claims of privilege, and purely legal contentions) are true, accurate, and complete to
the best of his/her knowledge and belief.

Signature of Verifying Party: __________________________________

Name of Verifying Party: ______________________________________

Title of Verifying Party (if responding for an entity): _____________________________

Subscribed and sworn/affirmed before me this _____ day of _______________,

2022.
____________________________________
Notary Public

STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 3

 UNLAWFUL CONDUCT

The purpose of this Investigative Demand is to gain information regarding whether

TikTok has violated Montana law, including the Montana Unfair Trade Practices and
Consumer Protection Act of 1973, Mont. Code Ann. § 30-14-101, et seq, by intention-
ally distributing a dangerous product without adequate warning to consumers and
by publicly misrepresenting the dangers its product poses to consumers.

The public record shows that TikTok’s platform (“TikTok”) is dangerous to users. In
particular:

• TikTok allows children who state their age to be as young as 13 to make pro-
files on its platform, but the platform does not distinguish between these chil-
dren and adults when promoting content to users through its algorithm. 1

• TikTok serves dangerous content to children, including “endless spools of con-

tent about sex and drugs,” “videos about drug use, references to cocaine and
meth addiction, and promotional videos for online sales of drug products and
paraphernalia,” “videos from accounts recommending paid pornography sites
and sex shops,” and posts that “encourage[] eating disorders and glorif[y] alco-
hol.” 2

• TikTok’s platform allows adults to solicit nude images from minors. 3

• TikTok’s algorithm pushes users into increasingly extreme and depressing con-
tent, in an effort to entice users to spend more time on the platform. 4

• Despite being alerted to the dangers of pro-anorexia and pro-eating disorder

hashtags on the platform, Tiktok has permitted such hashtags to remain
searchable. When users have created secondary hashtags as a workaround for

1 Rob Barry, et al., How TikTok Serves Up Sex and Drug Videos to Minors, WALL ST.
J., (Sept. 8, 2021), available at https://on.wsj.com/3oFpPHU. (A “spokeswoman said
the app doesn’t differentiate between videos it serves to adults and minors.”).
2 Id. (For example, a “bot account registered for a teenage user that fell into the
world of role-playing and other sexually oriented content … experienced one of the
most extreme rabbit holes,” including videos “describe[ing] how to tie knots for sex,
recover from violent sex acts, and discuss[ing] fantasies about rape.” “At one point
more than 90% of the account’s video feed was about bondage and sex.”).
3 Joseph Cox, TikTok, the App Super Popular with Kids, Has a Nudes Problem, VICE
(Dec. 6, 2018) available at https://bit.ly/3BdcXO3.
4 Inside TikTok’s Highly Secretive Algorithm, WALL ST. J. (July 21, 2021), available
at https://on.wsj.com/3HOQ7z6.
STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 4
 banned hashtags, TikTok has promoted them through features like autocom-
plete, which guides users to these dangerous substitutes. 5

• Because of the way TikTok’s algorithm works, users who seek one type of con-
tent can easily and quickly be pushed toward more dangerous content; for ex-
ample, users seeking diet content received “full-blown eating disorder promo-
tion in less than 24 hours” from TikTok. 6

• TikTok allows dozens of beauty filters that let users change their skin, face
shape, body shape, and more, and contributes to an “impossible standard of
beauty,” particularly for young girls. Competitor platforms Snapchat and In-
stagram do not allow filters that promote or mimic plastic surgery. 7

• TikTok has allegedly instructed moderators to suppress posts by undesirable

users, including those who are deemed too poor or disabled for the platform. 8

5 Kari Paul, ‘It Spreads Like a Disease’: How Pro-Eating-Disorder Videos Reach Teens
on TikTok, THE GUARDIAN (Oct. 16, 2021), available at https://bit.ly/3LimTKS. (“More
than a month” after being identified to TikTok by an advocacy group, pro-eating dis-
order hashtags “were still active on TikTok.” And “many users appeared to inten-
tionally misspell popular hashtags promoting unhealthy eating after they are banned
to get around the new regulations,” but “TikTok’s own search feature suggested some
of the popular hashtags used to get around its censorship, prompting the user to
search ‘thinspao’ if they simply type ‘thin’ into the search bar.”).
6 Id. (“Efforts by the Guardian to engage with diet content led to full-blown eating
disorder promotion in less than 24 hours. The popular hashtag #WhatIEatInADay,
for example, soon led to #ketodiet videos—then more restrictive diets and eventually
overtly unhealthy hashtags such as #Iwillbeskinny and #thinspoa.”).
7 Id. See also Abby Ohlheiser, TikTok Changed the Shape of Some People’s Faces
Without Asking, MIT TECH. REV. (June 10, 2021), available at https://bit.ly/3oDUx4c.
8 Sam Biddle, et al., Invisible Censorship, THE INTERCEPT (Mar. 16, 2020), available
at https://bit.ly/3LsuRB6. (“Sources indicated that both sets of policies were in use
through at least late 2019.”).
STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 5
 • On numerous occasions, young TikTok users have been killed or severely in-
jured while replicating dangerous challenges and other trends they learned
about from TikTok. 9

• Dangerous trends and threats on TikTok have caused vandalism in schools and
have forced Montana schools to increase security and even close to avoid the
risk of harm to students. 10

Despite these facts, TikTok communicates to the public that its platform is safe, in-
cluding for children:

• In Apple’s App Store, TikTok self-selects its app rating as “12+,” indicating
that it is appropriate for users twelve years old and older. 11 Similarly, TikTok
rates itself “Teen” in the Google Play and Microsoft stores. 12

• TikTok’s Guardian’s Guide, designed for child users’ parents and guardians,
describes TikTok this way:

Offering a safe and supportive environment is our top pri-

ority. We believe that feeling safe is essential to helping
people feel comfortable with expressing themselves openly
and creatively. We remove content, including video, audio,
livestream, images, comments and text that violate our
Community Guidelines, and accounts involved in severe or
repeated violations. Under certain circumstances, we will
go one step further and report the accounts to relevant le-
gal authorities to keep our community safe. Our

9 Letter, Senator Blumenthal, January 10, 2022, available at 110.22tiktokwhoosh-

bottleexperiment.pdf (senate.gov); see also, e.g., Kerry Breen, The ‘Choking Game’ Is
Now the ‘Blackout Challenge” on TikTok, and a Boy Has Died,” TODAY (April 15,
2021), available at https://on.today.com/3Lpr4V9; Jack Beresford, 9-Year-Old Boy
Dies While Attempting TikTok Challenge, NEWSWEEK (Oct. 28, 2021), available at
https://bit.ly/3rDQ3wm.
10 Riley Nagel, Disturbing Social Media Trend Encourages Kids to Vandalize Their
Schools, KULR8 (Sept. 21, 2021), available at https://bit.ly/3JjVlD0; Perry Backus,
Bitterroot School’s Law Enforcement Respond to TikTok School Threat Challenge,
MONTANA STANDARD (Dec. 16, 2021) available at https://bit.ly/3GKs4Qe.
11 See TikTok in the Apple’s App Store, available at https://apple.co/3GIAZl8.
12 See TikTok in the Google Play store, available at https://bit.ly/3HGyocQ; TikTok
in the Microsoft Store, available at https://bit.ly/3Bcg2xW.
STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 6
 Community Guidelines apply to everyone, and to every-
thing shared on TikTok. 13

• The Guardians Guide also contains a video titled “TikTok Basics,” which de-
scribes TikTok’s “For You Feed” as a “discovery stream” where users “can enjoy
TikTok videos that reflect your interests” “based on [TikTok’s] recommenda-
tion system.” The video supplies graphics of animals, coffee, nature, and music
and makes no mention to parents and guardians that child users could be
served dangerous content through the “For You Feed” or other TikTok fea-
tures. 14

• TikTok’s Guardian’s Guide also provides five tips for parents, which TikTok
says are sourced from teens themselves. One of the five, titled “Trust me,”
encourages parents to give their teens more autonomy online, telling parents:

Teens get that trust has to be earned, and they expect adult
oversight—especially for younger teens. Just as in the
“real” world, teens feel greater autonomy is appropriate as
they get older. Every family is different and the pace at
which a teen moves toward independent use of technology
will vary, but if your teen knows how to navigate platforms
safely and they come to you when things go wrong, that’s a
great foundation for trust. 15

• TikTok’s “Youth Portal” welcomes child users to TikTok but without mention-
ing the dangers found on the platform. The “Youth Portal” describes TikTok
as “a platform where people can create and share authentically, discover the
world around them, and connect with others across the globe.” It says TikTok
is “committed to keeping our global community safe.” Even if a child user clicks
on the link to the “Safety Center,” the user will not receive a warning about
the dangerous content that is available on TikTok. 16

• TikTok says it “has taken industry-first steps to promote a safe and age-appro-
priate experience for teens.” 17

13Guardian’s Guide, TIKTOK, available at https://www.tiktok.com/safety/en/guardi-

ans-guide/.
14 Id.
15 Id.
16 Youth Portal, TIKTOK, available at https://bit.ly/33duOYJ.
17 Rob Barry, et al., How TikTok Serves Up Sex and Drug Videos to Minors, WALL ST.
J., (Sept. 8, 2021), available at https://on.wsj.com/3oFpPHU.
STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 7
 • TikTok has said that it does “not allow content that encourages or replicates
dangerous challenges that might lead to injury. In fact, it’s a violation of our
Community Guidelines and we will continue to remove this type of content
from our platform.” 18

• TikTok’s Community Guidelines claim that TikTok “do[es] not allow nudity,
pornography, or sexually explicit content on our platform,” prohibits “[c]ontent
that depicts or promotes drugs, drug consumption, or encourages others to
make, use, or trade drugs or other controlled substances,” prohibits “[c]ontent
that promotes eating habits that are likely to cause adverse health outcomes,”
does not allow “[c]ontent that depicts a sexual fetish involving a minor,” and
does not allow content about “[d]angerous games, dares, or stunts that might
lead to injury.” 19

The above is substantial evidence of past and ongoing violations of the Montana Un-
fair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act of 1973.

18 Allyson Chiu, The TikTok ‘Skull-Breaker Challenge’ Landed a Teen in the Hospital.
Two Minors Face Criminal Charges, WASH. POST (Mar. 4, 2020), available at
https://wapo.st/34NzrsQ (“A spokesperson for TikTok reiterated that the platform’s
policy on potentially harmful content … stressing that people who attempt stunts
such as the ‘skull-breaker challenge’ won’t be rewarded with viral fame. ‘It’s not go-
ing to make you TikTok-famous, so don’t do it,’ the spokesperson said, later adding:
‘It’s not fun. It’s not funny.’”).
19 Community Guidelines, TIKTOK, available at https://bit.ly/3rI19Ac.
STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 8
 INSTRUCTIONS

1. Rules of construction. These instructions and the below demands for in-
formation and requests to produce documents should be construed to seek the broad-
est amount of information from respondent. Consistent with this, and without limit-
ing any other terms used herein:

The terms “all,” “and,” “and/or,” “any,” “any and all,” “each,” “each and every,”
“every,” and “or” shall be construed to seek the broadest possible information.

The term “including” means “including but not limited to.”

The terms “relating” and “relating to” mean reflecting, referring to, relating to,
regarding, discussing, concerning, constituting, mentioning, pertaining to, al-
luding to, or associated with in any way.

The singular of each word includes the plural and vice versa; the root word and
all derivations (“ing,” “ed,” etc.) shall be construed to include each other; and
the masculine, feminine, and neuter (“his,” “her,” “it,” etc.) are interchangeable
so as to seek the broadest possible information.

Verb tense and number should be construed to seek the broadest possible in-
formation.

The scope of each demand or request does not limit any others, but respondent
may, if otherwise consistent with these instructions, specifically reference and
incorporate the response to another demand or request to avoid duplication.

2. Definitions. As used in these instructions and the below demands for

information and requests to produce documents, unless context requires otherwise:

“And” and “Or” are terms of inclusion and not of exclusion and shall be con-
strued either disjunctively or conjunctively, as necessary, to bring within the
scope of this Investigative Demand any document or information that might
otherwise be construed to be outside its scope.

“Affiliate(d)” means an entity that is related to another entity (e.g., a subsidi-

ary, parent, or sibling corporation) by shareholdings or other means of control.
“Agent” means an individual, such as a representative, who is authorized to
act for or in place of another.

“Algorithm” means any computer-assisted process by which content is re-

trieved, indexed, catalogued, classified, sorted, flagged, ranked, evaluated, or-
ganized, promoted, targeted, elevated, demoted, upranked, downranked,
screened, or selected for display to users.
STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 9
 “Autocomplete” means the text-prediction feature of TikTok’s search bar.

“Any” and “All” shall mean each and every.

“Communication” means any and all manner or means of disclosure, transfer,

exchange or transmittal of information, whether oral or reduced to writing,
whether handwritten, typewritten, recorded, or produced by electronic data
processing, irrespective of how conveyed (e.g., telephone, telegram, telegraph,
e-mail, text message, chat, United States mail, private mail personal delivery
or courier service, facsimile transmittal, face to face contact, video conferenc-
ing, or otherwise), including but not limited to: inquiries, discussions, conver-
sations, negotiations, agreements, understandings, meetings, telephone con-
versations, letters, notes, telegrams, advertisements, or other forms of verbal
intercourse, whether oral or written.

“Content moderation” means any action to remove content and/or content pro-
ducers from a product, to reduce the visibility of content and/or content pro-
ducers on a product, to raise the visibility of content and/or content producers
on a product, to apply screens or pop-ups or warnings to certain content or
content producers, or to monetarily reward certain content and/or content pro-
ducers on a product. “Content moderation” also includes any action to recom-
mend or suggest content to users.

“Correspondence” means all letters, electronic mail, telegrams, notices, mes-

sages or other written Communications or memoranda, or other records of con-
versations, meetings, conference or other oral Communications.

“Device ID” is any identifier or any system used to identify a particular users’
internet-enabled device. The term “Device ID” applies equally to an identifier
set by an internet-enabled device or an identifier created and assigned by Tik-
Tok or an identifier created and assigned or retrieved in any other way.

“Document(s)” is used in the broadest sense of the word under Montana Rules
of Civil Procedure, Rule 34, and includes all original written, printed, typed,
recorded, or graphic matter whatsoever, however produced or reproduced, of
every kind, nature, and description, and all non-identical copies of both sides
thereof, including but not limited to, papers, letters, memoranda, Correspond-
ence, electronic Communications (existing in hard copy and/or in electronic
storage), invoices, contracts, agreements, manuals, publications, photographs
of all types, phonic or visual reproductions of oral statements, conversations,
and including but not limited to, any manual, book, pamphlet, periodical, let-
ter, report, memorandum, notation, or message, and all mechanical, magnetic,
and electronic records or recordings of any kind, together with the codes and/or

STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 10

 programming instructions and other materials necessary to understand and
use such systems.

“Employee” means any current or former employee of TikTok or any parent or

subsidiary, whether full-time or part-time, regardless of compensation. “Em-
ployee” includes any type of employer-employee relationship, including but not
limited to independent contractors, and those in the employ of or under con-
tract with entities with whom TikTok contracts for services.

“For You Feed” means a user’s main TikTok landing page, where users are
presented with a stream of videos curated by TikTok, and it includes any con-
tent appearing there. “For You Feed” further includes any content or meaning
commonly ascribed to this word by TikTok.

“Manually intervene” and “manually alter” mean any employee-initiated ad-

justment of any algorithm to alter the output visible to the user, including but
not limited to altering search results, search predictions, content recommen-
dations, advertisement targeting, data collection, and content presented on the
For You Feed.

“TikTok” refers to the TikTok social media platform, including in any testing
or beta phases or iterations, and to the incorporated business entity TikTok
Inc., and any and all parents and subsidiaries of TikTok Inc., including
ByteDance, 20 and any prior corporate status, and any present or former direc-
tors, officers, agents, partners, employees, representatives, attorneys, or any
other persons (including any of TikTok Inc.’s affiliates) acting on behalf of, in
affiliation with, under the control of, for the benefit of, at the request of, or in
concert with TikTok Inc. at any time relevant to the information sought in a
demand or request for production.

“Officer” means a person who holds an office of trust, authority, or command,

such as a person elected or appointed by the board of directors to manage the
daily operations of a corporation, such as a CEO, president, secretary, or treas-
urer.

“Product” means any broadly available consumer product, offered by TikTok or

any of its parents, subsidiaries, or affiliates, in which users may search, post

20 Salvador Rodriguez, TikTok Insiders Say Social Media Company Is Tightly Con-
trolled by Chinese Parent ByteDance, CNBC (June 25, 2021), available at
https://cnb.cx/3JdxGnG (“A former TikTok recruiter” says that “Beijing-based
ByteDance executives were heavily involved in TikTok’s decision-making,” and that
ByteDance “has access to American user data”).
STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 11
 content, and/or view content, including (but not limited to) the TikTok plat-
form.

Any word not defined herein shall be given its ordinary meaning.

3. Instructions for responding to demands for information.

a. For each demand contained herein, separately provide your response in

writing, under oath, and supported by a completed verification. In respond-
ing, divulge all responsive information in your possession, custody, or con-
trol. Leave no answer blank: if after exercising due diligence, you cannot
fully answer a demand, state the answer to the fullest extent possible and
also state why you are unable to answer it more fully.

b. When a demand for information asks you to describe or explain any of your
practices or any function of your products, describe and explain not only
current practices and functions but also all relevant past practices and func-
tions.

c. If you subsequently locate or obtain any responsive information not pro-

vided in your initial answers, promptly notify the Attorney General’s Office
of this and provide supplemental, verified answers containing the addi-
tional information.

4. Instructions for responding to requests for producing and producing docu-

ments.

a. For each request for production, provide a response explaining what you
are producing, withholding, and/or objecting to, and identify the specific
Bates range within your production where the responsive documents to the
request are located. Do not leave any response blank—if there are no doc-
uments responsive to a request, state this in your response.

b. Produce all responsive documents in your possession, custody, or control,

including documents held by any person from whom you can request docu-
ments. This also includes all drafts and other versions of responsive docu-
ments, unless a request specifies otherwise. If you cannot produce all such
responsive documents, expressly state this, explain what steps you took to
collect responsive documents, and produce what documents you can.

c. If you subsequently locate or obtain any responsive documents not provided

in your initial responses, promptly notify the Attorney General’s office of
this and provide a supplemental production of the additional documents.

STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 12

 d. Form of Production

i. In lieu of producing originals, electronic copies of documents may be

provided, so long as such reproductions/copies are accurate, com-
plete, and legible to the same degree as the originals, and the origi-
nals from which the reproductions/copies are made are retained by
their custodian(s) until the final disposition of this matter.

ii. Please produce all documents in the formant specified at the end of
this Investigative Demand in Appendices I and II.

5. Objecting and/or claiming privilege.

a. If you object (on the basis of privilege or otherwise) to responding to all or

some of a demand for information or request for production, or to producing
all responsive documents, then state all objection(s) and their specific bases.
Claims of privilege must be made in accordance with the below instructions.
If only a portion of a demand or request is objected to, then also answer the
portion of the demand or request to which an objection has not been made.
For example, if respondent objects to any demand or request on the grounds
of overbreadth, burdensomeness, vagueness, or relevance, state with spec-
ificity the manner in which the demand or request is objectionable and fully
respond to the demand or request as narrowed to conform to the objection.

b. When information is withheld from disclosure on a claim that it is subject

to privilege or protection as trial-preparation materials (collectively, “priv-
ileged”), the claim shall be made expressly and shall be supported by a de-
scription of the nature of each withheld document that is sufficient to ena-
ble other parties to contest the claim. This shall include: (a) the name of
each author, sender, preparer, or other initiator of the communication and
his or her business or legal title or position; (b) the name of each actual or
intended recipient or addressee of the communication and his or her busi-
ness or legal title or position; (c) the date or approximate date of the com-
munication; (d) the subject matter of the requested information or commu-
nication; and (e) the nature of any privilege asserted and the basis upon
which you assert it.

c. If you refuse to provide information in response to any of the attached de-

mands or requests because it tends to prove you committed a crime, or may
subject you to fine, penalty, or forfeiture, you should affirmatively state, in
every such instance, that is the reason for your refusal to provide infor-
mation.

STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 13

 d. If a privilege or other protection can be protected by redacting rather than
withholding a document, do not withhold the document entirely but rather
redact and produce the redacted copy of the document. Provide information
sufficient to justify the redaction, consistent with 5(b), supra.

e. Nothing herein constitutes a waiver by the Attorney General’s Office of any

argument that a particular privilege does not apply or that responsive doc-
uments or information must otherwise be turned over.

6. Except where otherwise noted, all interrogatories and document requests seek
information for February 24, 2022, to the present.

STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 14

 INTERROGATORIES

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 1: Explain in detail the basis for the “12+”
rating self-assigned to TikTok in Apple’s App Store and the “T” for “Teen” rating self-
assigned to TikTok in the Google Play store and Microsoft Store.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 2: Explain in what ways TikTok “has taken
industry-first steps to promote a safe and age-appropriate experience for teens.” 21

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 3: Explain whether, and if so, how, TikTok
“prohibits nudity and sexual solicitation and removes accounts that redirect users to
sexual content or services, including on OnlyFans.” 22

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 4: Explain how TikTok currently identifies

and removes content that violates its Community Guidelines.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 5: Explain how TikTok has previously iden-
tified and removed content that violates its Community Guidelines, if at all, since the
platform’s launch, and provide the date of and reason for any changes made to the
Community Guidelines.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 6: Provide a list of all hashtags TikTok has
banned or restricted and the date on which each hashtag was banned or restricted.

ANSWER:

21 Rob Barry, et al., How TikTok Serves Up Sex and Drug Videos to Minors, WALL ST.
J., (Sept. 8, 2021), available at https://on.wsj.com/3oFpPHU.
22 Id.
STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 15
DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 7: Explain how TikTok “work[s] diligently to
identify and remove content” that “encourages, promotes, or glorifies dangerous
behavior that might lead to injury,” and identify all instances in which TikTok has
identified and removed such content. 23

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 8: Explain how TikTok acts to disallow “nu-
dity, pornography, or sexually explicit content on [its] platform.” 24

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 9: Explain how TikTok acts to disallow

“[c]ontent that promotes eating habits that are likely to cause adverse health out-
comes.” 25
ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 10: Explain how TikTok acts to disallow
“[c]ontent that depicts a sexual fetish involving a minor.” 26

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 11: Explain what warnings TikTok supplies
parents and guardians about dangerous content on TikTok, including how TikTok
ensures that these warnings reach parents and guardians of child users of TikTok.

ANSWER:

23Jack Beresford, 9-Year-Old Boy Dies While Attempting TikTok Challenge,

NEWSWEEK (Oct. 28, 2021), available at https://bit.ly/3rDQ3wm.
24 Community Guidelines, TIKTOK, available at https://bit.ly/3rI19Ac.
25 Id.
26 Id.
STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 16
DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 12: Explain in detail TikTok’s decisions
regarding the creation, design, and implementation of a new algorithm in July
2021, including what changed about the algorithm and the reasons for the
changes. 27

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 13: Explain how, if at all, a user’s access
to content and other capabilities on the TikTok platform is restricted if the user reg-
isters as under the age of 21.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 14: Explain how, if at all, a user’s access to
content and other capabilities on the TikTok platform is restricted if the user regis-
ters as under the age of 16.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 15: Describe in detail what information Tik-
Tok collects from users when they create a TikTok account, including any methods of
age verification.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 16: Describe in detail any technology Tik-
Tok has developed, has used, or is using that would allow TikTok to estimate users’
actual ages, including users under age 13 or under age 16 or under age 21.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 17: Describe in detail whether any technol-
ogy covered by the previous question (Demand for Information 16) has been used or
is currently in use on the TikTok platform.

ANSWER:

27 See Eric Han, Advancing Our Approach to User Safety, TIKTOK (July 9, 2021),
available at https://bit.ly/3gFeEdI.
STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 17
DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 18: Describe in detail any knowledge TikTok
possesses about the efficacy of any technology covered by the previous two questions
(Demand for Information 16 and 17) in determining the actual age of an individual
user, or any knowledge TikTok possesses about the likelihood that users under 13
have TikTok accounts and the number of these underage users.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 19: Describe in detail any research con-
ducted by or commissioned by or otherwise known to TikTok about any correlation
between use of the TikTok platform and suicidal ideation and/or suicide among chil-
dren under age 18.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 20: Describe in detail any research con-
ducted by or commissioned by or otherwise known to TikTok about any correlation
between use of the TikTok platform and pornography addiction among children under
age 18.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 21: Describe in detail any research conducted
by or commissioned by or otherwise known to TikTok about any correlation between
use of the TikTok platform and eating disorders among children under age 18.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 22: Explain in detail what user information
is collected through the TikTok app or platform as a result of the user’s use of the app
or platform.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 23: Explain what, if any, information is col-
lected through the TikTok app or platform about comments, posts, direct messages

STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 18

or other activities that a user drafts but chooses not to send or publish, including any
metadata collected about those activities or the collection of the drafted material di-
rectly.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 24: To the extent TikTok collects any infor-
mation pursuant to the above question (Demand for Information No. 23), explain in
detail whether, and if so, how, users are informed about this data collection and give
their consent.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 25: Explain whether and, if so, to what ex-
tent, TikTok collects data from or conducts research on child users under age 18.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 26: Explain whether and, if so, how, TikTok
seeks parental consent before collecting data or conducting research on children un-
der age 18.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 27: Explain in detail any strategic intention
or decision by TikTok to attract child users under age 18 to TikTok.
ANSWER:
DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 28: Explain in detail any employee direc-
tives, including any compensation awards, that are linked to increasing the number
of child users under age 18 who use the TikTok platform or register for TikTok ac-
counts.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 29: Explain in detail any employee direc-
tives, including any compensation awards, that are linked to growing or maximizing
the amount of engagement between child users under age 18 and the TikTok plat-
form.

STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 19

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 30: Explain in detail TikTok’s understand-

ing of parental involvement in, knowledge of, and/or control of child users’ (under
age 18) use of the TikTok platform. Include information about available parental
controls and the percentage of accounts for users under age 18 for which parental
controls are enabled or in use.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 31: Explain in detail whether, and if so, to
what extent, TikTok allows advertisers to target child users under age 18, including
how any such targeting occurs.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 32: Explain in detail whether TikTok allows
advertisers to market mental health self-diagnosis tools or to promote mental health
self-diagnosis to users, including but not limited to the advertisers Cerebral and
Done, which purport to offer online tools for diagnosing and coping with attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). 28 Include the dates on which any relevant
advertisements appeared to TikTok users, the number of user impressions made, and
the number of user impressions made to users under age 18.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 33: Explain in detail any knowledge TikTok
possesses about users, and especially child users, relating to the platform in a way
that could be described as “addictive,” including through “rabbit-holing,” meaning the
practice of using the platform for long periods of time without breaks, including but
not limited to viewing content of a single type for long periods.

ANSWER:

28Olivia Long, TikTok Is Enabling Predatory ADHD Advertisers to Target Young

Users, MEDIA MATTERS, available at https://www.mediamatters.org/tiktok/tiktok-en-
abling-predatory-adhd-advertisers-target-young-users.
STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 20
DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 34: Describe in detail any knowledge, statis-
tical or otherwise, possessed by TikTok that suggests that TikTok exacerbates mental
health problems in already-vulnerable populations, including but not limited to indi-
viduals already suffering from depression, eating disorders, or suicidal ideation.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 35: Describe in detail any knowledge, statis-
tical or otherwise, or research possessed by or known to TikTok that suggests that
TikTok produces an addictive or addiction-like response in some or all users, includ-
ing but not limited to the effects of TikTok’s platform on users’ attention span or do-
pamine responses.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 36: Describe in detail any knowledge, statis-
tical or otherwise, or research possessed by or known to TikTok that relates to the
relationship between video length and user engagement, including but not limited to
the length of video that maximizes user engagement on the TikTok platform.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 37: Describe in detail any knowledge TikTok
possesses about the way some subsets of the wider population respond to TikTok us-
age, including but not limited to statistical subsets of the wider population of TikTok
users whose use correlates to greater experience of mental health problems even if
statistics about the wider population of TikTok users would not suggest such a corre-
lation.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 38: Describe in detail how the TikTok algo-
rithm chooses what content to promote in a user’s “For You Feed.”

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 39: State whether the TikTok algorithm
chooses what content to promote in a user’s “For You Feed” differently for adult users
as compared to users under age 18.

STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 21

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 40: Describe in detail how the TikTok algo-
rithm chooses what search results to suggest or autopopulate as part of the TikTok
platform’s Autocomplete feature.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 41: State whether the TikTok algorithm
chooses what search results to suggest or autopopulate as part of the TikTok plat-
form’s Autocomplete feature differently for adult users as compared to users under
age 18.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 42: Explain in detail whether, and if so, to
what extent, any employee of TikTok may manually intervene or manually alter any
search results or the promotion of any content (advertising or otherwise) in any aspect
of a user’s experience with the TikTok platform.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 43: Explain in detail the priorities for which
the TikTok algorithm is designed as relates to search results or the promotion of any
content (advertising or otherwise) in a user’s “For You Feed,” or any other aspect of
the platform. For example, explain whether the TikTok algorithm is designed to
maximize engagement (and if so, what types of engagement), time spent, quality of
engagement, and/or any other priority of TikTok.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 44: For any priority outlined in the question
above (Demand for Information No. 43) please explain any research that supports the
value of that priority for TikTok from a business perspective or otherwise.

ANSWER:

STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 22

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 45: Explain in detail whether all TikTok ac-
counts are subject to the same Community Guidelines and content moderation or
whether some TikTok accounts or users are exempt from some or all of the Commu-
nity Guidelines or any particular form of content moderation.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 46: If not all TikTok accounts are subject to
the same Community Guidelines and content moderation (see above, Demand for In-
formation No. 45), then explain in detail which TikTok accounts or users are exempt
from some or all of the Community Guidelines or any particular form of content mod-
eration and how such TikTok accounts or users are selected for such specialized treat-
ment.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 47: List all, if any, third-party fact checkers
with whom TikTok contracts for fact-checking services on the TikTok platform.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 48: Explain in detail whether and, if so, how
and to what extent, TikTok collects, relies on, or uses a user’s geographic details (e.g.,
user location, user’s registration address, etc.), including (but not limited to) whether
and if so, how and to what extent, TikTok collects and relies on a user’s geographic
location in relation to that of other users (for example, recommending content to a
user based on content another user has viewed after the two users spend time in the
same geographic location).

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 49: Explain in detail what information Tik-
Tok currently collects or has collected in the past related to a user’s “app and file
names,” “keystroke patterns or rhythms,” “audio settings and connected audio de-
vices.” 29

ANSWER:

29 Privacy Policy, TIKTOK, available at https://bit.ly/3LpLcGH.

STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 23
DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 50: Describe in detail whether and how Tik-
Tok “associate[s] you [the user] with information collected from devices other than
those you use to log-in to the Platform.” 30

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 51: List the names of any and all employees
who have been responsible for or have participated in any efforts to drive user en-
gagement on the TikTok platform, including for users under age 18.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 52: State the number of TikTok users who
have more than one TikTok account.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 53: Estimate the number of secondary Tik-
Tok accounts held by child users (under age 18).

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 54: Estimate the number of secondary Tik-
Tok accounts held by child users (under age 18) in Montana.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 55: Explain how advertisers purchase adver-
tising space or views on TikTok.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 56: Explain whether advertisers’ purchases

of advertising space or views on TikTok take account of the existence of multiple ac-
counts for some users, and if so, how.

30 Id.
STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 24
ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 57: List and describe the filters available on
TikTok now or at any time in the past that might reasonably be considered “beauty”
filters meant to enhance a person’s features and include photos with and without each
filter’s overlay.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 58: State whether any “beauty” filters en-
compassed in the previous demand (Demand for Information No. 57) have been made
equally available to users under age 18 as to adult users, or if any such “beauty”
filters have been restricted for users under age 18; and if such “beauty filters” have
been restricted at any time, the dates of any such restrictions.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 59: State whether TikTok has ever in-
structed moderators or other employees to suppress posts from users considered “too
ugly, poor, or disabled for the platform.” 31 .

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 60: State whether any TikTok entities incor-
porated in the United States share user data or other data about platform usage with
entities in the TikTok Inc. corporate family that are incorporated or located outside
of the United States, including in China.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 61: Describe in detail any policies or proce-
dures according to which any TikTok entities incorporated in the United States share
user data or other data about platform usage with entities in the TikTok Inc. corpo-
rate family that are incorporated or located outside of the United States, including in
China.

31 Sam Biddle, et al., Invisible Censorship, THE INTERCEPT (Mar. 16, 2020), available
at https://bit.ly/3LsuRB6.
STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 25
ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 62: List chronologically and describe any re-
strictions TikTok has imposed on the hashtags #thinspiration, #thinspo,
#proanorexia, #ana, #thinspoooo, #proana, #bulimia, #anaismyfriend, #ednos, #bod-
ycheck, and #bodychecking including for each hashtag the date range for each appli-
cable restriction and the nature of that restriction (e.g., search results hidden, warn-
ing label offered, etc.).

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 63: For all of the hashtags listed in the pre-
ceding Demand for Information No. 62, state whether TikTok’s Autocomplete feature
has ever suggested any of the listed hashtags to users when those users were typing
in TikTok’s search bar, and if so, state the date ranges for which each hashtag was
eligible for Autocomplete.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 64: List chronologically and describe any re-
strictions TikTok has imposed on the hashtags #selfharm, #self-harm, #selfharn,
#self-harn, #selfharmmm, #selfinjury, #selfinjuryy, #selfinjuryyy, #suicide, #depres-
sion, #MySecretFamily, #MySe-cretFamily, #blithe, and #ehtilb, including the date
range for each applicable restriction and the nature of that restriction (e.g., search
results hidden, warning label offered, etc.).

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 65: For all of the hashtags listed in the pre-
ceding Demand for Information No. 64, state whether TikTok’s Autocomplete feature
has ever suggested any of the listed hashtags to users when those users were typing
in TikTok’s search bar, and if so, state the date ranges for which each hashtag was
eligible for Autocomplete.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 66: List chronologically and describe any re-
strictions TikTok has imposed on the hashtags #skullbreakers, #skullbreakerchal-
lenge, #deviouslicks, #deviouslickschallenge, #dryscooping, #dryscoopingchallenge,

STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 26

#benadryl, #bendarylchallenge, #blackout, #blackoutchallenge, #chachaslide,
#chachaslidechallenge, #lugnut, and #lugnutchallenge, and for any variations of
these hashtags, including the date range for each applicable restriction and the na-
ture of that restriction (e.g., search results hidden, warning label offered, etc.).

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 67: For all of the hashtags listed in the pre-
ceding Demand for Information No. 66, state whether TikTok’s Autocomplete feature
has ever suggested any of the listed hashtags to users when those users were typing
in TikTok’s search bar, and if so, state the date ranges for which each hashtag was
eligible for Autocomplete.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 68: State whether Beijing ByteDance Tech-
nology is an “affiliate of [TikTok’s] corporate group” as that term is defined in Tik-
Tok’s privacy policy. 32

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 69: State whether TikTok’s parent company,
ByteDance Ltd., has ever communicated with TikTok regarding the substance of con-
tent displayed on TikTok.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 70: State whether any TikTok employee has
ever communicated with an official or employee of either the Chinese government or
the Chinese Communist Party.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 71: State whether any person in China may
access any data that is generated by use of TikTok within the United States. If so,
state what data is accessible within China.

32 Privacy Policy, TIKTOK, available at https://bit.ly/3LpLcGH.

STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 27
ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 72: State whether information about any
TikTok user has been offered to or provided to any person in China, whether or not
that person is an employee of TikTok Inc.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 73: Describe any and all procedures that re-
late to TikTok’s response, if any, to border cartels using TikTok to recruit teens to
drive migrants into the United States. 33

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 7424: List all third-party trackers affiliated
with TikTok and describe in detail the information made accessible to each one
through TikTok.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 7525: State whether the TikTok app com-
plies with all policies set out by the Apple App Store, Google Play Store, and Microsoft
Store.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 7626: State whether, once downloaded on

any device by a user, the TikTok app continues to comply at all times with all policies
set out by the Apple App Store, Google Play Store, and Microsoft Store. If not, de-
scribe in detail any ways in which the TikTok app has been or can be modified after
downloading in a way that would violate the policies of the Apple App Store, Google
Play Store, or Microsoft Store if that modification had been included in the originally
downloaded version of the TikTok app.

33 Adam Shaw & Aishah Hasnie, Border Cartels Using TikTok, Social Media to Re-
cruit US Teens to Smuggle Migrants, N. Y. POST (April 21, 2021), available at
https://bit.ly/35Uqcrq.
STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 28
ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 7727: Describe each and every type of Device
ID TikTok uses or has used in relation to any user or internet-enabled device, for any
purpose.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 7828: State whether TikTok allows any third
party to access any Device ID(s) or otherwise shares Device ID(s) with any third
party. If so, for each such third party state: the name of the third party, the type of
Device ID made available to that third party, the date range for which the type of
Device ID was made available to that third party (including whether the availability
is ongoing), and the approximate number of unique Device IDs made available to that
third party.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 7929: State specifically whether any Chinese
entity receives Device IDs from TikTok or can access them through the TikTok app.

ANSWER:

DEMAND FOR INFORMATION NO. 8030: State whether TikTok has restricted
any hashtags, removed any content, or otherwise restricted any user activity because
that activity commented on or otherwise related to political unrests or protests in
Hong Kong. If yes, describe in detail the nature of any such restriction on user activ-
ity.

ANSWER:

STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 29

 REQUESTS FOR PRODUCTION
REQUEST NO. 31: A copy of each iteration of TikTok’s Community Guidelines,
from the inception of those Guidelines.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 32: Any and all documents related to TikTok’s decision to self-se-
lect ratings of “12+” in the Apple App Store and “T” for “Teen” in the Google Play
store and Microsoft Store.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 33: Any and all documents supporting how TikTok “has taken in-
dustry-first steps to promote a safe and age-appropriate experience for teens.” 34

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 34: Any and all documents describing or relating to how TikTok
identifies and removes content that violates its Community Guidelines (or, if past
methods are different than present methods, any and all documents describing or
setting out how TikTok has identified and removed content at any time since Tik-
Tok’s inception).

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 35: Any and all documents describing or related to how TikTok
identifies hashtags to restrict or eliminate (including by posting warnings or redi-
recting users).

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 6: Any and all documents related to TikTok’s decision to develop
and the development of a new algorithm in July 2021.
ANSWER:

34 Rob Barry, et al., How TikTok Serves Up Sex and Drug Videos to Minors, WALL ST.
J., (Sept. 8, 2021), available at https://on.wsj.com/3oFpPHU.
STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 30
REQUEST NO. 7: Any and all documents describing the ability or inability of Tik-
Tok to restrict a user’s access to content or other capabilities on TikTok based on
the user’s age.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 8: Any and all documents describing the information TikTok col-
lects (or has considered collecting) from users when they create a TikTok account,
including any methods of age verification.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 9: Any and all documents relating to any technology TikTok has
considered or developed that would help verify the age of users.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 10: Any and all documents related to the efficacy of TikTok’s age
verification.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 11: Any and all documents about whether any technology covered
by the previous question (Request No. 10) has been used or is currently in use on
the TikTok platform.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 12: Provide a copy of all advertisements marketing or promoting

mental health self-diagnosis that TikTok has displayed to users, including a copy of
all advertisements run by the advertisers Cerebral and Done.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 13: Any and all documents related to research TikTok has con-
ducted, commissioned, or is aware of regarding any correlation between the use of
TikTok by children under age 18 and suicidal ideation and/or suicide.

STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 31

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 14: Any and all documents related to research TikTok has con-
ducted, commissioned, or is aware of regarding any correlation between the use of
TikTok by children under age 18 and pornography addiction.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 15: Any and all documents related to research TikTok has con-
ducted, commissioned, or is aware of regarding any correlation between the use of
TikTok by children under age 18 and eating disorders.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 16: Any and all documents related to research TikTok has con-
ducted, commissioned, or is aware of regarding any correlation between the use of
TikTok by children under age 18 and depression or mental health strain.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 17: Any and all documents related to information TikTok collects
from users or has considered collecting from users, including metadata or data about
what users type and choose not to send or post.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 18: Any documents about whether and, if so, to what extent, Tik-
Tok collects data from or conducts research on child users under age 18.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 19: Any documents about whether and, if so, how, TikTok seeks
parental consent before collecting data or conducting research on children under age
18.

ANSWER:

STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 32

REQUEST NO. 20: Any and all documents about TikTok’s intention or decision or
goal to attract child users under age 18 to TikTok.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 21: Any and all documents that describe any testing that TikTok
has conducted about what does or does not (or how to) drive user engagement on
TikTok, including for users under age 18.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 22: Any documents about any employee directives, including any
compensation awards, that are linked to increasing the number of young people un-
der age 18 who use the TikTok platform.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 23: Any and all documents about any employee directives, includ-
ing any compensation awards, that are linked to growing or maximizing the amount
of engagement between young users (under age 18) and the TikTok platform.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 24: Any and all documents related to TikTok’s knowledge of paren-
tal involvement in, knowledge of, and/or control of young users’ (under age 18 age)
use of the TikTok platform.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 25: Any and all documents that describe, estimate, or otherwise
relate to TikTok’s knowledge of the number of secondary TikTok accounts held by
child users (under age 18).

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 26: Any and all documents that describe, estimate, or otherwise
relate to TikTok’s knowledge of the number of secondary TikTok accounts held by
child users (under age 18) in Montana.

STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 33

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 27: Any and all documents about or related to the ability of adver-
tisers to target child users (under age 18).

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 2836: Any and all documents related to TikTok’s ability to target
advertisements to child users (under age 18), whether or not at the direction of the
advertiser.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 29: Any and all documents TikTok possesses about users, espe-
cially child users, using the TikTok platform in a way that could be described as
“addictive,” including through “rabbit-holing.”

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 30: Any and all documents related to TikTok’s knowledge, statisti-
cal or otherwise, that TikTok exacerbates mental health problems in already-vul-
nerable populations, including but not limited to individuals already suffering from
depression, eating disorders, or suicidal ideation.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 31: Any and all documents related to TikTok’s knowledge, statisti-
cal or otherwise, or research known to TikTok that suggests that TikTok produces
an addictive or addiction-like response in some or all users, including but not limited
to the effects of TikTok’s platform on users’ attention span or dopamine responses.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 32: Any and all documents related to TikTok’s knowledge, statisti-
cal or otherwise, or research possessed by or known to TikTok that relates to the
relationship between video length and user engagement, including but not limited
to the length of video that maximizes user engagement on the TikTok platform.

STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 34

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 33: Any and all documents related to TikTok’s knowledge of the
way some subsets of the wider population respond to TikTok usage, including but
not limited to statistical subsets of the wider population of TikTok users whose use
correlates to greater experience of mental health problems even if statistics about
the wider population of TikTok users would not suggest such a correlation.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 34: Any and all documents related to how the TikTok algorithm
chooses what content to promote in a user’s For You Feed.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 35: Any and all documents related to how the TikTok algorithm
chooses what content to promote in a user’s For You Feed differently for adult users
as compared to users under age 18, if the TikTok algorithm does promote content
differently between these two groups.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 36: Any and all documents related to how the TikTok algorithm
chooses what search results to suggest or autopopulate as part of the TikTok plat-
form’s Autocomplete feature.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 37: Any and all documents related to how the TikTok algorithm
chooses what search results to suggest or autopopulate as part of the TikTok plat-
form’s Autocomplete feature differently for adult users as compared to users under
age 18, if the TikTok algorithm does suggest results differently between these two
groups.

ANSWER:

STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 35

REQUEST NO. 38: Any and all documents related to how any employee of TikTok
may manually intervene or manually alter any search results or the promotion of
any content (advertising or otherwise) in any aspect of a user’s experience with the
TikTok platform.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 39: Any and all documents related to the priorities for which Tik-
Tok designs its algorithm, including, if applicable, user engagement.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 40: Any and all documents related to whether all accounts are sub-
ject to the same Community Guidelines and content moderation, and if not, which
accounts are not and how those accounts are selected for special treatment.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 41: Any and all documents relating to TikTok’s relationship with
third-party fact checkers with whom TikTok contracts for fact-checking services on
the TikTok platform, if any.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 42: Any and all documents relating to how TikTok collects, uses,
or relies on geographic information collected from users.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 43: Any and all documents relating to how advertisers purchase
space or views on TikTok.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 44: Any and all documents related to designing and making avail-
able on TikTok now, or at any time in the past, filters that might reasonably be
considered “beauty” filters meant to enhance a person’s features.

ANSWER:

STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 36

REQUEST NO. 45: Any and all documents related to any effort or directive at any
time to suppress content from users considered too ugly, unattractive, poor, or dis-
abled for the TikTok platform.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 46: Any and all documents related to the practice of TikTok entities
incorporated in the United States sharing user data or other data about platform
usage with entities in the TikTok Inc. corporate family that are incorporated or lo-
cated outside of the United States, including in China.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 47: Any and all documents related to any content moderation de-
cisions TikTok has made that have imposed restrictions on the hashtags #thinspi-
ration, #thinspo, #proanorexia, #ana, #thinspoooo, #proana, #bulimia,
#anaismyfriend, #ednos, #bodycheck, and #bodychecking.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 48: Any and all documents related to any content moderation de-
cisions TikTok has made that have imposed restrictions on the hashtags #selfharm,
#self-harm, #selfharn, #self-harn, #selfharmmm, #selfinjury, #selfinjuryy, #selfin-
juryyy, #suicide, #depression, #MySecretFamily, #MySe-cretFamily, #blithe, and
#ehtilb.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 49: Any and all documents related to any content moderation de-
cisions TikTok has made that have imposed restrictions on the hashtags #skull-
breakers, #skullbreakerchallenge, #deviouslicks, #deviouslickschallenge,
#dryscooping, #dryscoopingchallenge, #benadryl, #bendarylchallenge, #blackout,
#blackoutchallenge, #chachaslide, #chachaslidechallenge, #lugnut, and
#lugnutchallenge, and for any variations of these hashtags.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 50: Any and all communications between TikTok and Beijing
ByteDance Technology, the domestic subsidiary of ByteDance Ltd.

STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 37

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 51: Any and all communications involving both TikTok and an of-
ficial or employee of the Chinese government, including communications relayed
through ByteDance Ltd. or any other person or entity.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 52: Any and all documents that relate to TikTok’s response, if any,
to border cartels or other human smugglers using TikTok to recruit teens or other
users to drive or otherwise transport migrants into the United States.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 53: Any and all documents that refer or relate in any way to the
Wall Street Journal's coverage of TikTok in July or September 2021, and any and
all documents that refer or relate in any way to coverage by other news outlets con-
cerning the Wall Street Journal’s reporting on TikTok from in July or September
2021.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 54: Any and all documents provided to any state or state investi-
gative body or federal agency or Congress in relation to any investigation of unfair
or deceptive trade practices as defined by any state or federal laws.

ANSWER:

REQUEST NO. 55: Any and all documents related to the origination and develop-
ment of TikTok’s updated Community Guidelines, set to take effect March 7, 2022.

ANSWER:

STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 38

 APPENDIX I. ELECTRONIC DOCUMENT PRODUCTION SPECIFICATIONS

Unless otherwise agreed to by the Montana Attorney General’s Office, all responsive
documents must be produced in accordance with the following instructions.

1. Concordance Production Components:

A. Metadata Load File. A delimited text file that lists the required
metadata for each produced document.

B. Extracted or OCR Text Files. Document-level extracted text for

each produced document or document-level optical character recogni-
tion (“OCR”) text where extracted text is not available.

C. Single-Page Image Files. Individual images of the produced docu-

ments in tagged image file format (“TIF”), with page-level Bates num-
ber endorsements.

D. Opticon Load File. A comma delimited text file that lists the single-
page TIF files for each produced document and defines (i) the relative
location of the TIF files on the production media and (ii) each document
break.

E. Native Files. Native format versions of non-printable or non–print

friendly produced documents.

2. Production Folder Structure. The production must be organized according to

the following standard folder structure with a limit of 1000 files per subfolder:
 data\ (contains production load files)
 images\ (contains single-page TIF files, with subfolder organization)
\0001, \0002, \0003…
 native files\ (contains native files, with subfolder organization)
\0001, \0002, \0003…
 text\ (contains text files, with subfolder organization)
\0001, \0002, \0003…

3. De-Duplication. You may perform global de-duplication of stand-alone docu-

ments and email families against any prior productions pursuant to this or
previously related Investigative Demands.

4. Paper or Scanned Documents. Documents that exist only in paper format

must be scanned to single-page TIF files and OCRed. The resulting elec-
tronic files should be produced in Concordance format pursuant to these in-
structions. You must contact the Assistant Attorney General whose
STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 39
 telephone number appears on the Investigative Demand to discuss (i) any
documents that cannot be scanned, and (ii) how information for scanned doc-
uments should be represented in the metadata load file.

5. Structured Data. Before producing structured data, including but not limited
to relational databases, transactional data, and xml pages, you must first
speak to the Assistant Attorney General whose telephone number appears on
this Investigative Demand. Spreadsheets are not considered structured data.

6. Media and Encryption. All documents must be delivered on encrypted media.

Encrypted flash drives or encrypted external hard drives are the preferred
deliverable media.

7. Production File Requirements.

A. Metadata Load File

 Required file format:
• ASCII or UTF-8
• Windows formatted CR + LF end of line characters, in-
cluding full CR+ LF on last record in file.
• .dat file extension
• Field delimiter: (ASCII decimal character 20)
• Text Qualifier: þ (ASCII decimal character 254). Date
and pure numeric value fields do not require qualifiers.
• Multiple value field delimiter: (ASCII decimal character
59)
 The first line of the metadata load file must list all included
fields. All required fields are listed in Attachment 2.
 Fields with no values must be represented by empty columns
maintaining delimiters and qualifiers.
 All documents must have page-level Bates numbering (except
documents produced only in native format, which must be as-
signed a document-level Bates number). The metadata load file
must list the beginning and ending Bates numbers (BEGDOC
and ENDDOC) for each document.
 For document families, including but not limited to emails and
attachments, compound documents, the metadata load file must
also list the Bates range of the entire document family in the
BEG_ATTACH and END_ATTACH fields beginning with the
first Bates number (BEGDOC) of the “parent” document and
ending with the last Bates number (ENDDOC) assigned to the
last “child” in the document family.
 Date and Time metadata must be provided in separate fields.
 Accepted date formats:

STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 40

 • mm/dd/yyyy
• yyyy/mm/dd
• yyyymmdd
 Accepted time formats:
• hh:mm:ss (if not in 24-hour format, you must indicate
am/pm)
• hh:mm:ss:mmm

B. Extracted or OCR Text Files

 You must produce individual document-level text files contain-
ing the full extracted text for each produced document.
 When extracted text is not available you must provide individual
document-level text files containing the document’s full OCR
text.
 The filename for each text file must match the document’s begin-
ning Bates number (BEGDOC) listed in the metadata load file.

C. Single-Page Image Files

 Where possible, all produced documents must be converted into
single-page tagged image format (“TIF”) files. See Section E be-
low for instructions on producing native versions of documents
you are unable to convert.
 Each single-page TIF file must be endorsed with a unique Bates
number.
 The filename for each single-page TIF file must match the
unique page-level Bates number (or document-level Bates num-
ber for documents produced only in native format).
 Required image file format:
• CCITT Group 4 compression
• 2-Bit black and white
• 300 dpi
• Either .tif or .jpg (for color images) extensions
 Where possible documents should not span multiple subfolders.

D. Opticon Load File

 Required file format:
• ASCII
• Windows formatted CR + LF end of line characters
• Field delimiter: , (ASCII decimal character 44)
• No Text Qualifier
• .opt or .log file extension
 The comma-delimited Opticon load file must contain the follow-
ing seven fields (as indicated below, values for certain fields may
be left blank):

STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 41

 • ALIAS or IMAGEKEY: the unique Bates number as-
signed to each page of the production.
• VOLUME: this value is optional and may be left blank.
• RELATIVE PATH: the filepath to each single-page image
file on the production media.
• DOCUMENT BREAK: defines the first page of a docu-
ment. The only possible values for this field are “Y” or
blank.
• FOLDER BREAK: defines the first page of a folder. The
only possible values for this field are “Y” or blank.
• BOX BREAK: defines the first page of a box. The only
possible values for this field are “Y” or blank.
• PAGE COUNT: this value is optional and may be left
blank.
 Opticon Load File Example:
ABC00001,,IMAGES\0001\ABC00001.tif,Y,,,2
ABC00002,,IMAGES\0001\ABC00002.tif,,,,
ABC00003,,IMAGES\0002\ABC00003.tif,Y,,,1
ABC00004,,IMAGES\0002\ABC00004.tif,Y,,,1

E. Native Files
 Non-printable or non–print friendly documents (including but
not limited to spreadsheets, audio files, video files and docu-
ments for which color has significance to document fidelity) must
be produced in their native format.
 The filename of each native file must match the document’s be-
ginning Bates number (BEGDOC) in the metadata load file and
retain the original file extension.
 For documents produced only in native format, you must assign
a single document-level Bates number and provide an image file
placeholder that states “Document produced only in native for-
mat.”
 The relative paths to all native files on the production media
must be listed in the FILEPATH field of the metadata load file.
 You may be required to supply a software license for proprietary
documents produced only in native format.

STATE’S FIRST CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND | 42