Florida sues TikTok over alleged child safety law violations

Florida has put TikTok at the center of a high-stakes fight over whether states can force social media platforms to keep children off their services. Attorney General James Uthmeier said the company violated a state child safety law by allowing children under 14 to create accounts and by letting some 15- and 16-year-olds sign up without the parental consent required under Florida law.

The case, filed in state court in St. Lucie County, asks for damages, a court order requiring TikTok to change its practices, and a declaration that the app is a public nuisance. Uthmeier framed the lawsuit as a consumer safety case, saying TikTok “knowingly deceives parents” and puts profits ahead of children’s safety.

Florida’s law, known as House Bill 3, was signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis on March 25, 2024, and took effect January 1, 2025 after a federal court fight. It bars children under 14 from creating social media accounts and requires parental consent for 14- and 15-year-olds. The attorney general’s office says TikTok has still allowed underage users onto the platform and exposed them to violent or sexual content despite those rules.

That makes the lawsuit more than an age-verification dispute. Florida is also invoking the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, a move that broadens the fight into consumer protection and public-health territory. If the state wins, platforms could face not only fines and damages but also court-supervised changes to how they verify age, moderate content and present safety claims to parents.

The legal road ahead is likely to be contentious. A divided 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowed Florida to begin enforcing HB 3 in November 2025 while litigation continues, signaling that the state now has room to push its first major enforcement action under the law. TikTok did not immediately comment.

The lawsuit lands as state officials and public health experts increasingly treat teen social media use as a safety issue rather than a matter of screen-time preference. Pew Research Center found in 2024 that YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat remained widely used among U.S. teens, and in 2025 reported that roughly 1 in 5 U.S. teens said they were on TikTok and YouTube almost constantly. The U.S. Surgeon General has warned that social media is not yet proven safe for children and adolescents, and CDC research has linked frequent use with bullying victimization, persistent sadness or hopelessness, and some suicide-risk indicators.

For Florida families, the case could reshape what a teenager sees, who can open an account and how much responsibility platforms bear when they fail to keep age gates in place. For TikTok, it is another front in a widening legal battle over whether the business model itself can survive stronger child-safety rules.