{"id":525,"date":"2026-06-17T10:09:41","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T10:09:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=525"},"modified":"2026-06-17T10:09:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T10:09:41","slug":"florida-sues-tiktok-accusing-platform-of-targeting-children-misleading-parents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=525","title":{"rendered":"Florida Sues TikTok, Accusing Platform of Targeting Children, Misleading Parents"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has filed a lawsuit against TikTok, accusing the social media platform of violating state law by allowing underage users to create accounts, targeting children as users, and misleading parents about the content available on the app.<\/p>\n

Read more Cleveland Clinic Agrees to Cease Transgender Procedures for Minors in DOJ Settlement<\/a><\/p>\n

The lawsuit, filed Monday in St. Lucie County, alleges TikTok has failed to comply with Florida\u2019s online child protection law and has deceived families about the nature of material children may encounter on the platform.<\/p>\n

\u201cTikTok\u2019s success hinges on its ability to addict children and teenagers to the platform,\u201d Uthmeier said during a June 15 news conference announcing the lawsuit. \u201cTikTok knowingly deceives parents and allows children to be exposed to harmful and inappropriate content in direct violation of Florida law. We have zero tolerance for companies that prioritize profit over children\u2019s safety. TikTok should expect to be held accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the complaint, TikTok is violating House Bill 3, Florida\u2019s online child protection law, which took effect Jan. 1, 2025.<\/p>\n

The suit alleges the platform allows children younger than 14 to create accounts and permits 15- and 16-year-olds to establish accounts without parental consent. Under the law, children under 14 are prohibited from using social media platforms, while 15- and 16-year-olds must obtain parental permission before creating accounts.<\/p>\n

The state also alleges TikTok violated the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act by misrepresenting the nature of content available to minors.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump Administration Transfers Special Education, Civil Rights Duties as Education Department Downsizing Continues<\/a><\/p>\n

TikTok markets itself in app stores as appropriate for users ages 13 and older while describing mature subjects such as sexual content, drug-related content, profanity, self-harm, suicide and eating disorders as \u201cmild\u201d and \u201cinfrequent.\u201d<\/p>\n

State officials further argue that TikTok\u2019s business model is designed to attract and retain younger users by exploiting addictive behaviors to which children and teenagers are especially vulnerable.<\/p>\n

The company has been aware internally for years of potential risks to children but failed to take sufficient action to address those concerns.<\/p>\n

Uthmeier said the lawsuit is intended to enforce Florida\u2019s child protection laws and hold technology companies accountable when they fail to comply with them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe State of Florida stands with families in protecting our children from the abuses of addictive social media apps,\u201d state Rep. Chip LaMarca said during Monday\u2019s news conference. \u201cThank you to the AG for pursuing the fight against these bad actors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Morning Greatness: Senate Shoots Down Resolution to Limit Trump\u2019s Military Authority Over Iran<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has filed a lawsuit against TikTok, accusing the social media platform of violating state law by allowing underage users\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":493,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nFlorida Sues TikTok, Accusing Platform of Targeting Children, Misleading Parents - Urban Economy news<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=525\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Florida Sues TikTok, Accusing Platform of Targeting Children, Misleading Parents - Urban Economy news\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has filed a lawsuit against TikTok, accusing the social media platform of violating state law by allowing underage users\u2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=525\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Urban Economy news\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-17T10:09:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=525#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=525\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/be7753cb687f443815cc81e8407f68ad\"},\"headline\":\"Florida Sues TikTok, Accusing Platform of Targeting Children, Misleading Parents\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-17T10:09:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=525\"},\"wordCount\":438,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=525#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/65b91d9895c56fec9c13b61f1c875500.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=525#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=525\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=525\",\"name\":\"Florida Sues TikTok, Accusing Platform of Targeting Children, Misleading Parents - Urban Economy news\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=525#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=525#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/65b91d9895c56fec9c13b61f1c875500.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-17T10:09:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/be7753cb687f443815cc81e8407f68ad\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=525#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=525\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=525#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/65b91d9895c56fec9c13b61f1c875500.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/65b91d9895c56fec9c13b61f1c875500.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1015},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=525#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Florida Sues TikTok, Accusing Platform of Targeting Children, Misleading Parents\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Urban Economy news\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/be7753cb687f443815cc81e8407f68ad\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Florida Sues TikTok, Accusing Platform of Targeting Children, Misleading Parents - Urban Economy news","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=525","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Florida Sues TikTok, Accusing Platform of Targeting Children, Misleading Parents - Urban Economy news","og_description":"Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has filed a lawsuit against TikTok, accusing the social media platform of violating state law by allowing underage users\u2026","og_url":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=525","og_site_name":"Urban Economy news","article_published_time":"2026-06-17T10:09:41+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=525#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=525"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/be7753cb687f443815cc81e8407f68ad"},"headline":"Florida Sues TikTok, Accusing Platform of Targeting Children, Misleading Parents","datePublished":"2026-06-17T10:09:41+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=525"},"wordCount":438,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=525#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/65b91d9895c56fec9c13b61f1c875500.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=525#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=525","url":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=525","name":"Florida Sues TikTok, Accusing Platform of Targeting Children, Misleading Parents - Urban Economy news","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=525#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=525#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/65b91d9895c56fec9c13b61f1c875500.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-17T10:09:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/be7753cb687f443815cc81e8407f68ad"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=525#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=525"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=525#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/65b91d9895c56fec9c13b61f1c875500.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/65b91d9895c56fec9c13b61f1c875500.jpg","width":2560,"height":1015},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=525#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Florida Sues TikTok, Accusing Platform of Targeting Children, Misleading Parents"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/","name":"Urban Economy news","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/be7753cb687f443815cc81e8407f68ad","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com"],"url":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}