Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has announced a lawsuit against the social media platform TikTok.
He’s alleging the platform is violating a state law that limits children’s use of social media platforms.
A state law that took effect in 2024 bans those under 14 from having their own accounts on social media, and requires those 14 to 15 to have parental permission. Uthmeier alleged that TikTok has not followed requirements to keep children from using the platform during a press conference Monday to announce the lawsuit.
“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,” he said. So, TikTok is looking at potentially billions in damages. We look forward to seeing them in court. I hope that they will quickly resolve their issues and protect kids, but we're going to send a message out there: leave our little ones alone.”
Uthmeier has previously announced other lawsuits against large tech platforms, including a lawsuit against the social platform Snapchat under the same law, and criminal and civil investigations against OpenAI.
