{"id":308101,"date":"2026-06-15T17:04:05","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T17:04:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/308101\/"},"modified":"2026-06-15T17:04:05","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T17:04:05","slug":"time-is-up-florida-takes-legal-action-against-tiktok-over-child-safety-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/308101\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Time is up’: Florida takes legal action against TikTok over child safety concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"

ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 Florida\u2019s Attorney General<\/a> announced a lawsuit Monday against TikTok<\/a>, accusing the social media company of violating state law, misleading parents and exposing children to harmful and addictive content.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the next step in our effort to fight to protect our kids,\u201d Attorney General James Uthmeier said at a morning news conference. \u201cOur office has been very busy the last year and a half since I’ve been Attorney General, going after anybody that wants to subject our little ones to harm.\u201d<\/p>\n

The civil complaint, filed June 15 in St. Lucie County<\/a>, seeks penalties, damages and court-ordered changes to TikTok\u2019s platform. The lawsuit alleges the company has allowed underage users to create accounts and failed to meet requirements under Florida\u2019s 2024 social media law. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a civil lawsuit,\u201d the Attorney General said when asked about the case. \u201cThe lawsuit is focused on two things \u2014 deceiving parents and the real harms that are out there for kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under the law, children under 14 are barred from holding accounts and teens ages 14 and 15 must have parental consent. The complaint alleges TikTok has continued to operate in violation of those restrictions.<\/p>\n

Time is up for TikTok.”<\/p>\n

The Attorney General said, \u201cTikTok happens to be one of the most egregious social media applications when it comes to the dangers that are there at the fingertips of kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the announcement, state officials described TikTok\u2019s design as intentionally addictive, pointing to features like autoplay video and endless scrolling.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey designed the application with unlimited scrolling, push notifications, videos that just go nonstop,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd it’s designed to keep kids stuck on those screens for hours and hours a day.\u201d<\/p>\n

The complaint similarly alleges TikTok uses algorithm-driven feeds and engagement features to maximize time on the platform, particularly for young users.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur evidence suggests that so many kids are on TikTok for upwards of six, seven, eight or more hours a day,\u201d the Attorney General said.<\/p>\n

We are going to get our kids their lives back, and we’re going to do that here in the state of Florida.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lawsuit also accuses the company of misrepresenting the type of content available on its platform. According to the filing, TikTok has described material involving sexual themes, drugs, and profanity as \u201cinfrequent\u201d or \u201cmild,\u201d despite evidence that those categories are widespread. <\/p>\n

At the news conference, the Attorney General said his office uncovered disturbing material during its investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey advertise that they’re safe for kids, but it doesn’t take long, just a few searches,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of sexual vulgar content there. I\u2019m not going to read it with kids in the room.\u201d<\/p>\n

The complaint details concerns that minors are exposed to explicit material and other harmful content through TikTok\u2019s algorithm. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have evidence of young people looking for ways to engage in self-harm, suffering from mental disorders due to the addictions to these platforms, and in the worst of cases, hurting themselves,\u201d Uthmeier said.<\/p>\n

Officials also warned that social media platforms have become a tool for predators targeting minors.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, it\u2019s happening in the privacy, in the dark corner of your child’s bedroom,\u201d the Attorney General said. <\/p>\n

These predators are smart, they’re patient, they use fake photographs, they develop relationships with your kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lawsuit argues TikTok\u2019s practices contribute to a broader public health issue and may constitute a public nuisance under Florida law. <\/p>\n

In addition to enforcement, Uthmeier said the case is meant to force widespread changes across the social media industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo time is up for TikTok and everybody else that falls under this law,\u201d he said. \u201cWe will be enforcing it. We will be holding them accountable for damages and injunctive relief to change their programming and stop hurting our kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that financial penalties could be significant.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo TikTok is looking at potentially billions in damages,\u201d Uthmeier said. <\/p>\n

We look forward to seeing them in court.\u201d<\/p>\n

State Rep. Chip LaMarca, who helped pass the legislation, said the law was intended to address both predatory behavior and harmful content online.<\/p>\n

\"{p}State<\/p>\n

State Rep. Chip LaMarca, who helped pass the legislation, said the law was intended to address both predatory behavior and harmful content online. (AG Uthmeier, FB) <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we say that we’re the free state of Florida, we are, but we’re also going to protect our children,\u201d LaMarca said. \u201cPeople are still not taking it seriously, so that’s why we’re here today.\u201d<\/p>\n

A parent who spoke at the event described the difficulty families face in managing children\u2019s exposure to social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would never invite strangers into our living room to have unrestricted access to our children,\u201d she said. \u201cSocial media <\/a>can make that possible without us even realizing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Uthmeier said the goal of the lawsuit is not only financial penalties but also changes to TikTok\u2019s system.<\/p>\n

\u201cProgrammatic changes are number one,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen these companies make billions and billions and billions of dollars, making them open their checkbook is not only good to help our victims, but it also changes behavior.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 Florida\u2019s Attorney General announced a lawsuit Monday against TikTok, accusing the social…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":308102,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-308101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=308101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308101\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/308102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=308101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=308101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=308101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}