Texas Wins Landmark Victory Against TikTok

Texas has scored a major victory in the fight to protect children from the dangers of Big Tech, with Attorney General Ken Paxton securing a landmark ruling holding TikTok liable for misleading parents about the safety of its platform and exposing children to inappropriate content.

Many have warned about the dangers children face on social media. Platforms like TikTok have repeatedly presented themselves as safe environments for young users while building their businesses around maximizing engagement and keeping users on their platforms for as long as possible.

According to the Texas Attorney General’s Office, District Judge Cory Liu has found TikTok liable for lying about its safety standards and concealing the prevalence of inappropriate and explicit material available to children on the platform. The ruling makes Texas the first state in the nation to hold TikTok liable on these grounds.

According to Paxton's office, TikTok claimed that it would remove graphic and inappropriate material, including content involving drugs, nudity, alcohol, injuries, and profanity. Yet that material remained accessible to minors, including when children were using TikTok's so-called Restricted Mode.

Parents should be able to trust that when a technology company advertises safety features designed to protect children, those features actually work. Instead, the Attorney General's Office alleges TikTok concealed the reality of what children could encounter on its platform while portraying itself as a safe environment for minors.

This latest victory is part of a broader effort by Texas to force technology companies to take responsibility for the environments they create for children. Paxton previously sued TikTok over alleged violations of Texas' Securing Children Online Through Parental Empowerment Act, or SCOPE Act, arguing that the platform was operating in a manner that endangered

the online safety and privacy of Texas children.

The Attorney General then brought another lawsuit alleging TikTok deceptively marketed its platform as safe for minors while children were routinely exposed to inappropriate material.

Parents have the God-given responsibility to protect and raise their children. Technology companies should not be permitted to undermine that responsibility by designing platforms that expose children to harmful material while simultaneously assuring parents that their children are safe. The responsibility of a parent becomes even more difficult when companies intentionally design their platforms to maximize engagement.

The Attorney General's Office says Paxton will now proceed to trial against TikTok, where penalties and other relief will be determined. The trial is expected to take place next month. Paxton has made clear that this fight will not stop with TikTok.

The Attorney General said he will continue pursuing social media companies that expose children to predators, inappropriate content, addictive features, or other dangers.

Government has a legitimate responsibility to enforce laws and protect children from companies that deceive consumers or violate the rights of families. The TikTok ruling demonstrates what can happen when state leaders are willing to take on powerful corporations rather than simply accept their promises.

We applaud Attorney General Ken Paxton for this historic victory and will continue supporting efforts to protect children, strengthen parental authority, and hold companies accountable when they put profits ahead of the safety and innocence of our children.