Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced Monday that the state has filed a civil lawsuit against TikTok, accusing the social media company of violating a Florida law that restricts teenagers’ access to social platforms. The suit was filed in St. Lucie County.
“It’s designed to keep kids stuck on those screens for hours,” Uthmeier said at a press conference. “Our evidence suggests that so many kids are on TikTok for upwards of six, seven, eight or more hours a day. We are going to get our kids their lives back.”
Florida enacted a law last year that bans children under 14 from using social media platforms and requires 15- and 16-year-olds to obtain parental permission before creating accounts. Monday’s complaint argues that TikTok violated this law and “is actively deceiving Florida parents about the risks of allowing their teens to access this platform.”
Florida officials accused the platform of telling parents that mature content on its service — including drugs, nudity, alcohol, and profanity — is “infrequent.” According to the lawsuit, an honest assessment of the mature content on TikTok would warrant an age rating of 16+ or 18+. “These ratings would cause parental restrictions on phones to prevent many kids from downloading the app,” the suit states, according to the Guardian.
The state alleged that TikTok exposed children to harmful sexual content and used addictive design features — unlimited scrolling and push notifications — to maximize engagement.
TikTok responded in a statement: “TikTok is built with safety at its core.” The company said it is evaluating the complaint and continuing to update its platform in Florida in compliance with state law.
The Florida action adds to TikTok’s broader legal troubles. The social media company has already been sued by roughly two dozen state attorneys general over claims related to the addictive nature of its feed and its alleged harmful mental health effects on children. The company also faces a separate federal legal challenge over a law that could ban the platform in the United States if its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, does not sell its U.S. operations.