Attorney General James Uthmeier launched his legal attack on TikTok with a lawsuit on Monday alleging the popular social media website is breaking Florida’s new child protection law. The lawsuit filed in St. Lucie County state court is the latest in a wave of lawsuits against social media companies for their effect on younger audiences that has been growing across the country. The backlash from the debate centres on Florida’s House Bill 3, which bans minors under 14 from creating or owning social media accounts, and the state is claiming that TikTok has blatantly violated those regulations.
The suit isn’t limited to just issues with verifying accounts, however. The Attorney General’s office has also issued a complaint alleging TikTok misled parents and the public about the amount of violent and sexually explicit material that young users may be exposed to on the platform. The two-pronged approach to the lawsuit implies that Florida is trying to prove that TikTok is breaking the law not only in terms of the actual age restrictions, but also because the company’s claims of content moderation have been “deliberately misleading. The complaint requests a court order to force TikTok to make the changes necessary to comply with Florida law and also financial damages, but the amount sought for financial damages has not been made public.
In the statement about the lawsuit, Uthmeier sounded very strong, saying that “TikTok deceives parents and leaves kids vulnerable to harmful and inappropriate content in violation of Florida law. The attorney general’s statement went on to state that his office strives for “zero tolerance of companies that put profit before safety for children,” calling the lawsuit part of his office’s efforts to “defend Florida’s youngest residents. The lawsuit takes this rhetorical stance, not just as a compliance procedure, but as a responsibility, directly to parents and concerned citizens who are increasingly worried about the exposure their children face online.
TikTok, on the other hand, has stated that it has been in contact with the attorney general’s office and has already done some initial steps toward being compliant. Company representatives have said that they have been contacting teenagers in Florida about the suspension of their accounts as they work through the process of updating the site to comply with state law.The company has said that it has been communicating with underage Florida users about the suspension of their accounts as it continues to work through the process of keeping the site up to date in compliance with state law. A TikTok spokesman said the company is “evaluating the state’s complaint and are prepared to defend our strong record on minor safety,” indicating that the company plans on fighting back against Florida’s requests and will not simply concede. This seems a measured but firm response to a lawsuit that could be a substantial danger to TikTok’s business and it’s preparing for a long legal battle.
Notably, Florida’s lawsuit comes at a time when many constitutional questions regarding the regulation of social media are pending. A previous ruling by a federal judge had precluded House Bill 3 from going into effect, leaving doubts about the bill and its unconstitutionality and compatibility with existing federal laws. That decision has not yet been finalized, though, so Florida is still going forward with enforcement actions, leaving a legal grey area in its wake. The loophole may be complicated the state’s case against TikTok, given that the company has the ability to claim that it is too early to enforce a law that is facing a challenge in court or that it is fundamentally unfair.
TikTok is not the only social media platform that Florida is seeking to sue. Nationwide, over two dozen state attorneys general have taken legal action against TikTok, the majority of which are under state consumer protection laws. The consolidated litigation claims that TikTok is intentionally engineered to be addictive for minors, thereby causing the “mental health crisis” among minors and young people that many public health professionals are calling for. That they’re coordinated implies a strategy by state officials to combine resources and appear united in a battle against a company that many feel has taken focus off of the well-being of its youngest users for engagement metrics and advertising revenue.
In addition to the actions in the state courts, TikTok is also being targeted by several hundred lawsuits from a variety of school districts and individuals nationwide. TikTok, like Facebook, Instagram’s parent company Meta Platforms and other social media, is facing thousands of claims from young people saying they’ve suffered from depression, anxiety and other mental health issues due to their compulsive use of the app. The cases provide a major leg-up for the legal and financial challenges facing the entire social media industry, and plaintiffs’ attorneys hope to continue building evidence that those companies know their products can have devastating psychological impacts but have decided to roll them out despite the evidence.
The companies have repeatedly refuted these allegations and point to the numerous measures they take to safeguard younger users. These measures are heightened privacy settings for minor accounts, limitations on direct messaging between minors and adults, content filtering tools to block inappropriate content, and time limits to limit usage. However, critics say that these safeguards are inadequate and platforms have repeatedly failed to adhere to their own policies, putting vulnerable users at risk of suffering at the hands of a predatory platform and experiencing harmful content.
The battle on liability is now being tested in a Los Angeles courtroom, where a young woman is alleging depression and anxiety stemming from her addiction to these platforms when she was a young girl. The ruling does not directly affect the other defendants or form precedent in the TikTok cases, but it marks a shift in how juries are likely to view arguments that social media platforms have a responsibility for the impact of their product designs. This early win may encourage other plaintiffs to litigate and compel businesses, such as TikTok, to settle before incurring potentially disastrous verdicts.
