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The state of Alabama is suing social media company TikTok Inc., and its parent company, ByteDance Inc.The lawsuit, announced by Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall Tuesday, accuses the companies of "fueling a mental health crisis among Alabama’s youth."“Today we join concerned parents across our state to stand up for Alabama’s children. TikTok preys on young people, feeding them dangerous and damaging content while lying to parents about how safe the app really is. This platform was designed to addict kids and put profits ahead of the mental health of an entire generation,�� Marshall said. “TikTok’s so-called ‘safety features�� are a joke. They are nothing more than a marketing ploy to trick parents into trusting a product that TikTok knows full well is dangerous. Alabama families deserve the truth, and we will make sure they get it.”The lawsuit further alleges that TikTok purposefully engineered an addictive algorithm that exposes minors to harmful content and claims its safety measures are ineffective, leaving children vulnerable to exploitation and inappropriate material. “We cannot ignore the giant problem with this platform: TikTok is owned by Chinese corporation ByteDance, which mines sensitive American data from the People’s Republic of China, where corporations have a legal obligation to share that data collected with the Chinese national intelligence services," said Marshall. "TikTok and ByteDance are knowingly committing espionage against Americans�� personal information, and they are exploiting our children specifically.�� The state is seeking civil penalties under Alabama’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act, damages, and injunctive relief to ensure that the company’s "misleading practices pertaining to youth safety are discontinued."You can read the full complaint here.