The state of Florida is suing the social media platform TikTok for allegedly violating the state’s law prohibiting access to social media for children under 14.
In the lawsuit, filed in state court in St. Lucie County, Florida, Attorney General James Uthmeier accused the platform of failing to require 14- and 15-year-olds to acquire parental consent to access the platform.
"TikTok knowingly deceives parents and allows children to be exposed to harmful and inappropriate content in direct violation of Florida law," Uthmeier said in a statement, additionally accusing the company of lying to parents about the contents within the app. "We have zero tolerance for companies that prioritize profit over children's safety.”
Unlike companies like Meta who have complied with the Florida law, deleting “hundreds of thousands” of accounts by underage users, TikTok instead, is allowing children to access harmful content such as pornography and self-harm videos, while actively enabling addictive features like unlimited scrolling and push notifications.
According to the filing, the civil suit seeks a court order directing TikTok to reform the platform to comply with the Florida statute, as well as financial damages.
“TikTok 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,” Uthmeier said during a press conference announcing the lawsuit.
Rather than restricting specific social media applications, the Florida law instead targets “addictive features” such as “doom scrolling” and social media sites where at least 10 percent of users are under 16 and spend more than two hours on average engaged.
“We’ve been engaging constructively and in good faith with the AG and have notified users under 14 in Florida that their accounts will be suspended,” TikTok officials responded in a statement. “We’re continuing to update our platform in Florida in response to state law.”
