{"id":68050,"date":"2026-06-15T22:44:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T02:44:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/?p=68050"},"modified":"2026-06-15T22:44:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T02:44:09","slug":"florida-sues-tiktok-over-childrens-access-to-app","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/florida-sues-tiktok-over-childrens-access-to-app\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida sues TikTok over children\u2019s access to app"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has sued TikTok, accusing the company of violating the state\u2019s online child protection law by allowing minors to create accounts while misleading parents about harmful content on the app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lawsuit<\/a>, filed Monday, names TikTok and several related companies, including ByteDance. It seeks injunctive relief, civil penalties, punitive damages and other relief under Florida law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The complaint alleges that TikTok is violating House Bill 3, a Florida online child protection law that took effect last year. The law bans children under 14 from creating accounts on covered platforms and requires parental consent for 14- and 15-year-olds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uthmeier\u2019s office said TikTok allows children under 14 to create accounts and lets 14- and 15-year-olds do the same without parental consent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTikTok\u2019s success hinges on its ability to addict children and teenagers to the platform,\u201d Uthmeier said<\/a>. \u201cTikTok knowingly deceives parents and allows children to be exposed to harmful and inappropriate content in direct violation of Florida law.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lawsuit also accuses TikTok of violating Florida\u2019s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act by representing the app as appropriate for children 13 and older while allegedly understating the amount of mature content available to young users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the complaint, TikTok describes content involving sex, drugs, profanity, self-harm, suicide and eating disorders as \u201cmild\u201d and \u201cinfrequent,\u201d even though the state alleges those themes are common on the app and often shown or discussed in graphic detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The complaint also alleges that TikTok\u2019s app would receive a higher age rating if it accurately disclosed the frequency and intensity of mature content available through the platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Florida further alleges that TikTok is intentionally designed to keep children and teenagers using the app for long periods through features such as the For You feed, autoplay, endless scrolling, push notifications, likes, livestreams and other engagement tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lawsuit says TikTok has known for years that compulsive use of its platform can harm children and teenagers but continued targeting young users because they are central to the company\u2019s business model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTikTok is built with safety at its core, with more than 50 preset safety and privacy settings for teens and easy-to-use tools for parents,\u201d A TikTok spokesperson said. \u201cWe are evaluating the state\u2019s complaint and are prepared to defend our strong record on minor safety.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lawsuit follows similar actions by Uthmeier\u2019s office against other technology companies, including OpenAI, Snap Inc. and Roblox.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has sued TikTok, accusing the company of violating the state\u2019s online child protection law by allowing minors to create accounts while misleading parents about harmful content on the app. The lawsuit, filed Monday, names TikTok and several related companies, including ByteDance. It seeks injunctive relief, civil penalties, punitive damages and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":49891,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,2],"tags":[2973,93,4323,2963,2972],"class_list":["post-68050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-usnews","tag-bytedance","tag-florida","tag-james-uthmeier","tag-lawsuits","tag-tiktok"],"yoast_head":"\nFlorida sues TikTok over children\u2019s access to app - BNO News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/florida-sues-tiktok-over-childrens-access-to-app\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Florida sues TikTok over children\u2019s access to app - BNO News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has sued TikTok, accusing the company of violating the state\u2019s online child protection law by allowing minors to create accounts while misleading parents about harmful content on the app. The lawsuit, filed Monday, names TikTok and several related companies, including ByteDance. 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