Texas attorney general first to hold Tik­Tok liable for harm­ing kids

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(Legal Newsline) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has secured a legal victory against TikTok, which he says makes Texas the first state in the nation to hold the social media platform liable for misleading parents about the safety of its app and for exposing children to inappropriate content.

Earlier this year, Paxton sued TikTok for deceptively marketing its app as safe for minors, despite regularly showing inappropriate and explicit material to children.

“TikTok sacrificed the safety and innocence of children for engagement and numbers, and now they are being held accountable,” Paxton said. “Texas is now the first state in the nation to hold TikTok liable for lying to parents about the safety of its platform and exposing children to harmful content.

“I will continue to go after TikTok and every social media company that exposes children to predators, inappropriate content, addictive features, or any other dangerous aspect of their platforms. I will never stop fighting to protect Texas children.”

Paxton also previously sued TikTok for violating the Securing Children Online Through Parental Empowerment Act by unlawfully operating its platform in a manner that puts the online safety and privacy of Texas children at risk.

On Sept. 10, District Judge Cory Liu found TikTok liable for lying about its safety standards and concealing the truth about the prevalence of inappropriate and explicit material.

Specifically, TikTok claimed it would remove graphic videos such as those depicting drugs, nudity, alcohol, injuries, and profanity. However, such videos have remained accessible to minors on the platform, even under “Restricted Mode.”

“For years, the State argues, TikTok employees internally recognized that Restricted Mode was not functioning in the way it was marketed and exposed users to a high volume of content that should have been filtered out,” the order states. “Here too, the Court agrees that the State has met its summary-judgment burden and established that this conduct violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.”

Paxton will now proceed to trial against TikTok, where relief and penalties will be determined.

The trial is expected to be set for next month.

The case was filed in Travis County.

250th Judicial District cause number D-1-GN-25-003118