TikTok dealt another legal blow as Attorney General Uthmeier files a lawsuit accusing the tech giant of misleading parents and placing children in harm\u2019s way.<\/p>\n
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has slapped TikTok with a lawsuit over allegations the social media titan knowingly deceived parents about dangers associated with its app<\/a> while centring its business model around addiction, prioritising profit over children\u2019s and teenagers\u2019 safety.<\/p>\n The lawsuit, filed yesterday (15 June) with the Circuit Court of the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit in and for St Lucie County, Florida, alleges violations of section 1736 of House Bill 3 \u2013 Florida\u2019s online child protection law \u2013 and the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.<\/p>\n Misrepresentations<\/p>\n According to the filing, parents have been frequently presented with false information about the frequency at which mature content, including profanity and crude humour, drug and alcohol use, and nudity, appears on the platform. While TikTok claims that these topics surface infrequently or mildly, Uthmeier contends that such X-rated content is frequent, intense and easily accessible to children under 16.<\/p>\n TikTok currently holds a 13+ rating on the Apple App Store. Before Apple changed its age-rating system in late 2025, it had a 12+ rating. Turning to the frequency at which mature content falls into the laps of tweens and teens, Uthmeier says that, had TikTok correctly rated its app, it would have received a 17+ age rating under the old system, and a 16+ or 18+ rating under the new one, automatically triggering parental restrictions preventing children from even downloading the app in the first instance.<\/p>\n More shockingly, the lawsuit contends that not only does X-rated content appear frequently and intensely on the app, but the algorithm actively \u201crecommends it to 13-year-old users\u201d.<\/p>\n In the know<\/p>\n Social media companies have come under similarly intense regulatory and legal fire for designing their platforms to be addictive. In February 2026, the European Commission preliminarily found TikTok in breach of the Digital Services Act<\/a> for its addictive design, including for failures to adequately assess how its addictive features \u2013 including autoplay, infinite scroll and its highly personalised recommender system \u2013 could harm the mental and physical wellbeing of users, including minors and vulnerable adults.<\/p>\n Uthmeier\u2019s lawsuit says much the same. \u201cAddiction is TikTok\u2019s business model\u201d, the filing reads, accusing the company of employing various addictive-by-design features that \u201cexploit, manipulate and capitalise on the developing brains of young users\u201d.<\/p>\n The complaint adds that TikTok has long been aware that compulsive and excessive use of its platform would harm children and teenagers. Company executives have reportedly admitted that the \u201cproduct in itself has baked into it compulsive use\u201d.<\/p>\n Despite possessing full knowledge of the associated risks of sleep deprivation, anxiety, depression, suicide, self-harm and death, TikTok continually \u201ctargets its product to minors as its core demographic\u201d, the complaint continues.<\/p>\n Section 1736 of House Bill 3 prohibits social media platforms employing addictive features from contracting with children likely to be 13 years or older and requires parental consent before contracting with users aged 14 or 15.<\/p>\n For Uthmeier, there is a simple option already employed by TikTok\u2019s parent company and co-defendant ByteDance outside the US: producing an alternative version of the app that reduces the risk of harm to young users. But the refusal to do so, he says, rests on teenagers in the US being \u201ca golden audience\u201d, as reportedly admitted by TikTok executives and employees.<\/p>\n \u201cTikTok\u2019s success hinges on its ability to addict children and teenagers to the platform,\u201d\u00a0said Uthmeier in a statement. \u201cWe have zero tolerance for companies that prioritize profit over children\u2019s safety. TikTok should expect to be held accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n Crack down<\/p>\n Confirmation of the lawsuit came the same day as the UK government\u2019s announcement of a nationwide ban on social media use by children under 16<\/a> as part of efforts to protect minors from mental harms, bullying and exposure to dangerous content.<\/p>\n