TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is taking another swing at Big Tech, this time filing a lawsuit against TikTok over the state’s social media law for minors.
The complaint, filed Monday in St. Lucie County, accuses TikTok of violating HB3, Florida’s 2024 law restricting minors’ access to certain social media platforms. The law bars covered platforms from giving accounts to children under 14 and requires parental consent for 14- and 15-year-olds.
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“Today — time is up for TikTok,” Uthmeier said during a Fort Lauderdale press conference announcing the case.
The lawsuit alleges TikTok is continuing to allow underage users on the platform while also misleading parents about the app’s safety. The state argues TikTok markets itself as appropriate for young teens, despite exposing them to mature content, addictive design features and safety tools Florida claims do not work as advertised.
The complaint specifically points to features like autoplay, push notifications and an endless algorithmic feed, arguing TikTok’s business model depends on keeping young users scrolling.
“If you are a company and you want to choose profit over public safety, if you want to choose profit over our children, we will not tolerate it,” Uthmeier said.
State Rep. Chip LaMarca, who supported the law, said companies have had time to comply.
“We’re looking to protect our children,” LaMarca said. “That bill was passed in 2024, so we’re coming up on the third year that that should be in effect, and people are still not taking it seriously.”
TikTok pushed back in a statement, saying the platform is “built with safety at its core,” with more than 50 preset safety and privacy settings for teens and tools for parents.
“We’ve been engaging constructively and in good faith with the AG and have notified users under 14 in Florida that their accounts will be suspended,” a TikTok spokesperson said. “We’re continuing to update our platform in Florida in response to state law. We are evaluating the state’s complaint and are prepared to defend our strong record on minor safety.”
The lawsuit comes as HB3 itself remains under legal challenge from tech industry groups, which argue the law violates the First Amendment and gives the state power that should belong to parents. A federal appeals court has allowed Florida to enforce the law while that broader case continues.
The TikTok case marks at least the fourth major tech lawsuit brought under Uthmeier, following legal action involving Snapchat, Roblox and OpenAI. The attorney general’s office has also opened an investigation into Discord.
Florida is seeking damages, penalties and court-ordered changes to TikTok. The case may ultimately depend not only on the state’s claims against the company, but also on whether Florida’s social media restrictions survive the ongoing constitutional challenge.
