Florida filed a lawsuit against TikTok in June 2026, alleging the company is violating the state’s child safety law by allowing underage users to remain on its platform. The suit, first reported by Reuters, was filed on Monday.
At the center of the lawsuit is Florida’s HB3, a law that bans children under 14 from creating social media accounts and requires 14- and 15-year-olds to obtain parental consent before signing up. The law initially took effect on January 1st, 2025, but was temporarily blocked by a federal judge before an appeals court reversed that ruling late last year, allowing it to stand.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier alleges TikTok continues to allow 13-year-olds in the state to use the platform and is “actively deceiving” parents about its risks. The lawsuit further claims TikTok fails to require parental consent for 14- and 15-year-old users as the law mandates.
Beyond the social media ban, Uthmeier accuses TikTok of violating consumer protection laws by misrepresenting the nature of content available on the app. The lawsuit claims that despite alcohol, tobacco, and drug content being “readily available” on TikTok, the company describes such references as “infrequent/mild” in its App Store listing. The suit also alleges TikTok designs its app to be “addictive” to children and teens.
In response, TikTok US spokesperson Jamie Favazza said the company has been engaging “constructively and in good faith” with Florida’s attorney general and noted that the platform “notified users under 14 in Florida that their accounts will be suspended.”
This is not Florida’s first action of this kind — the state filed a similar lawsuit against Snap when HB3 first came into effect. TikTok is also facing dozens of additional lawsuits alongside Meta and YouTube over allegations of failing to protect minors on their platforms.
Source: The Verge