Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has filed suit against the social media platform TikTok, alleging violation of state law.
The complaint, filed on June 15 in St. Lucie County, accuses TikTok of violating Florida’s 2024 law, House Bill 3, that restricts minors’ access to some social platforms.
House Bill 3, which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2025, bans children under 13 from social media platforms and requires parental consent for those 16 and younger.
“Florida children, teens, and their parents are facing a crisis: the widespread, compulsive use of social media platforms specifically designed to be addictive,” the suit stated.
The attorney general claims that parents, teachers, and experts agree that the compulsive use of social media is harmful to children, and features within the app have been identified as promoting addiction in children.
“TikTok’s success hinges on its ability to addict children and teenagers to the platform,” Uthmeier said.
“TikTok knowingly deceives parents and allows children to be exposed to harmful and inappropriate content in direct violation of Florida law. We have zero tolerance for companies that prioritize profit over children’s safety. TikTok should expect to be held accountable.”
The suit accuses TikTok of “openly defying” public health measures put into effect by the 2024 legislation, calling TikTok’s conduct “particularly egregious” because of continued marketing of the app as safe for users as young as 13.
“TikTok is actively deceiving Florida parents about the risks of allowing their teens to access this platform,” the suit alleged.
Uthmeier said that TikTok has built one of the most popular social media platforms, but that it was done “on the back of deception about the content on its platform, the mental health problems it causes in young people, and open defiance of Florida law.”
The attorney general is looking to compel the platform to comply with House Bill 3 and the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, which the attorney general alleged TikTok has violated.
“The State of Florida stands with families in protecting our children from the abuses of addictive social media apps,” said Florida Rep. Chip LaMarca (R).
TikTok did not immediately respond to The Epoch Times request for comment on the suit.
In January, TikTok settled a landmark lawsuit on social media addiction, where a plaintiff identified as K.G.M. blamed her depression and suicidal thoughts on social media apps.
A California judge denied tech giants Meta Platforms and Google’s YouTube a new trial in the same case after a jury found the companies liable for designing social media platforms to be harmful to young people.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carolyn Kuhl ruled on June 9 that the previous jury decision, which awarded a woman $6 million in damages, would stand.
The woman claimed that she became addicted to Google's YouTube and Meta's Instagram at a young age due to an attention-grabbing design.
Kuhl dismissed the tech companies’ claims that Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, long used by platforms that host user-generated content, should shield them from liability.
Section 230 is a federal law that limits the liability of online platforms. However, according to Kuhl, it does not address the companies’ design choices.
In March of this year, a New Mexico jury found Meta liable for violating the state’s consumer protection law by misinforming users about the platform’s safety for children.