A Travis County judge ruled Thursday that TikTok violated Texas consumer protection law by misleading consumers about safeguards meant to protect minors from inappropriate content.
Judge Cory Liu of the 250th District Court granted Texas’ motion for partial summary judgment in a September 10 order. The ruling establishes liability for two deceptive practices under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act but does not set penalties.
The decision made Texas the first state to hold TikTok liable on those grounds, the Office of the Attorney General said.
Judge cites two deceptive practices
TikTok represented that it would remove certain videos violating its Community Guidelines. Internal moderation policies instead directed that some of that content remain available under the label “hard to find” rather than “do not allow,” the court found.
The order identified videos promoting drug use or gambling, depicting minors behaving in a sexually suggestive manner, and showing graphic wounds or injuries.
Beyond TikTok’s content-removal claims, the court found that the company misrepresented Restricted Mode, which TikTok marketed as limiting content inappropriate for minors. Specifically, Texas established that the feature exposed users to a high volume of material that TikTok should have filtered, including profanity, sexually suggestive content, violence, weapons, drugs and other mature themes.
Penalties remain undecided
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) filed the lawsuit January 9, 2025, accusing TikTok of deceptively promoting its app as safe for children.
The case is separate from a 2024 lawsuit accusing TikTok of violating the Securing Children Online Through Parental Empowerment Act by unlawfully sharing minors’ personal data and failing to provide required parental controls.
“TikTok sacrificed the safety and innocence of children for engagement and numbers, and now they are being held accountable,” Paxton said in the release.
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours, Reuters reported.
The court will determine penalties and other relief at trial. Paxton’s office expects the court to schedule the trial for next month.
Provided by Dallas Express
