Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier sued TikTok on Monday, June 15, accusing the app of letting minors view harmful content while deceiving parents about what the platform actually shows kids.
The lawsuit claims TikTok violates Florida’s House Bill 3, which took effect January 1, 2025. That law bars social media platforms from allowing children under 14 to create new accounts. Uthmeier says TikTok is doing it anyway — and that teens old enough to sign up are doing so without parental consent, which the law also prohibits.
“The lawsuit is focused on two things — deceiving parents and the real harms that are out there for kids,” Uthmeier said.
TikTok’s own policies say its content won’t include fear, suffering, profanity, serious violence, dangerous behavior, sexually suggestive material, or threatening imagery. The lawsuit says those themes appear on the app anyway — and often in graphic detail. That gap between the company’s stated standards and what users actually see forms the core of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act claim.
Uthmeier didn’t stop at policy failures. He argued TikTok’s design is the problem. The app runs on an algorithm-driven feed — a ranking system built to push videos a user is most likely to watch — and Uthmeier says that system is calibrated to keep younger users scrolling.
“TikTok’s success hinges on its ability to addict children and teenagers to the platform,” he said.
He called TikTok “one of the most egregious social media applications when it comes to the dangers that are there at the fingertips of kids” and said the state has zero tolerance for companies that put profit ahead of children’s safety.
The suit also claims TikTok knew about the dangers its platform posed to minors and chose not to fix them. “TikTok knowingly deceives parents and allows children to be exposed to harmful and inappropriate content in direct violation of Florida law,” Uthmeier said.
TikTok hadn’t responded to the allegations as of the filing.
Originally reported by The Daily Wire. Read the original report.
