• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, January 10, 2025

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton this week accused TikTok of lying to parents about the “mature and extreme content on its highly addictive app.”

“While TikTok has established itself as one of the most popular apps in Texas, it has utterly disregarded the health and safety of Texas minors in the process,” Paxton alleged in a complaint filed Thursday in Galveston County.

“TikTok is rife with profanity, sexual content, violence, mature themes, and drug and alcohol content,” he added.

The complaint -- Paxton's second recent lawsuit against TikTok -- comes as the company faces a possible nationwide ban on January 19.

Paxton claims that TikTok violated a state consumer protection law by touting its app as appropriate for teens.

“TikTok represents that the categories of inappropriate content on its platform, including drugs, nudity, alcohol, and profanity, are all 'infrequent' and 'mild,'” Paxton writes, adding that his office's investigation “has proven these claims to be misleading, deceptive, and false.”

He also alleges that TikTok failed to disclose “efforts to intentionally addict minors.”

“It has pursued innovative design features that keep young eyes glued to the screen,” Paxton alleges. “Many Texas minors are now addicted to TikTok, to the detriment of their well-being, development, and mental and physical health.”

Attorneys general in 13 other states and the District of Columbia raised similar claims in lawsuits brought against TikTok last October.

Paxton separately sued TikTok in October for allegedly violating a new state law by sharing teens' personal data without first obtaining verifiable parental consent.

TikTok shares "personal identifying information" of minors under 18 with "business partners, including advertisers, and search engines” and also with other app users, Paxton alleged in that complaint.