Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier sued TikTok for allegedly violating HB3, the state's online child-protections law, by letting children under 14 create accounts and allowing 14- and 15-year-olds on without parental consent. The complaint, filed in St. Lucie County, also accuses TikTok under Florida's deceptive-practices act of using design features built to hook kids and of misleading parents about how much sexualized, drug-related, and mature content the app hosts, with parts of the filing redacted under a footnote warning that it's “NSFW.” Uthmeier is seeking financial penalties and an injunction forcing compliance, and said Meta is currently the only major platform meeting the state's age limits. TikTok responded that it's been engaging in good faith and has already begun suspending under-14 accounts in Florida.
