UPDATES & ANALYSIS

Iowa Supreme Court to hear arguments on whether a suit against TikTok can be heard in Iowa

by Rox Laird | October 21, 2025

Does the Polk District Court have jurisdiction to hear the State’s lawsuit against the TikTok social media platform claiming the company violates Iowa’s Consumer Fraud Act by misrepresenting the nature of content accessible to underage users?

That is the question in State of Iowa v. Tiktok, Inc.—a case to be argued before the Iowa Supreme Court on Oct. 24 at the University of Iowa College of Law. The Iowa City argument is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. and can be watched online on the Court’s YouTube channel. [Go to On Brief’s “Cases in the Pipeline” page to read briefs filed in this case.]

Amicus briefs in support of TikTok have been filed in this case with the Court by NetChoice, a trade association for online businesses; and by Alan Trammell, associate professor of law at Washington and Lee School of Law, and Derek Bambauer, the Irving Cypen Professor of Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. [Disclosure: Nyemaster Goode attorney Leslie C. Behaunek wrote the brief for NetChoice.]

The State sued TikTok asserting the social media app allows Iowans as young as age 12 to view videos created by users that contain age-inappropriate content, such as profanity, sexual content and nudity. The State argues TikTok misrepresents the frequency and intensity of such content when seeking ratings from app stores by filling out age-rating questionnaires.

Based on TikTok’s answers to those questionnaires, it was assigned a 12+ age rating in the Apple App Store and a “T for Teen” rating in the Microsoft and Google Play stores, indicating the platform’s content is generally suitable for users ages 13 and older.

The district court denied TikTok’s motion to dismiss the State’s petition for lack of personal jurisdiction under Iowa Rule of Civil Procedure 1.421(1)(b) and for failure to state a claim under Iowa Rule of Civil Procedure 1.421(1)(f). TikTok appealed to the Iowa Supreme Court challenging the district court’s ruling regarding the question of the trial court’s jurisdiction to hear the case. TikTok urges the Supreme Court to reverse the district court’s order and direct it to dismiss the State’s petition for lack of personal jurisdiction.

In order for a court to hear a civil case under the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment, the party bringing the action must establish that it has certain minimum contacts in the forum in which the court sits. In this case, the trial court held that it has personal jurisdiction over TikTok because Iowans agree to the platform’s terms of service.

TikTok argues in a brief filed with the Iowa Supreme Court that the terms-of-service agreement has no impact on whether the challenged statements in the app stores’ questionnaires are deceptive or unfair under Iowa’s Consumer Fraud Act. Thus, it argues, the terms-of-service agreement does not establish the necessary connection between TikTok and Iowa.

TikTok argues that the terms-of-service agreement users must accept as a condition of using TikTok’s platform is standardized throughout the country and is not tailored to the Iowa market. “Because the [terms of service] and other contacts alleged by the State have nothing to do with Iowa specifically or with the State’s claims, relying on these alleged contacts to support specific personal jurisdiction impermissibly creates a form of national, general jurisdiction for the vast majority of internet businesses. Such a standard is unconstitutional.”

The State, in a brief filed with the Iowa Supreme Court by Attorney General Brenna Bird, argues the district court correctly exercised personal jurisdiction over the TikTok defendants because Iowa consumers who have downloaded TikTok’s app hundreds of thousands of times enter an ongoing contractual relationship with TikTok.

Also, the State argues, TikTok is subject to personal jurisdiction in Iowa because it targets content and advertisements to Iowa users based on their location collected from those users. “The user’s permission to TikTok to collect that location data is critical, because TikTok’s entire business model is built around using this information to target advertisements to users,” the brief states. “And this ongoing collection and monetization of user location data has proven immensely profitable: TikTok made nearly $4 billion in revenue in 2021 and an estimated $10–12 billion in 2022.”

Tags: Iowa Supreme Court 2025-26