TikTok violated a Texas consumer protection law by
making misleading statements regarding its efforts to prevent minors from viewing "inappropriate" content, a state judge ruled Thursday.
Travis County District Court Judge Cory
Liu said in the ruling that Attorney General Ken Paxton proved TikTok violated the Deceptive Trade Practices Act in two ways.
One of Paxton's theories, which was accepted by
Liu, was that TikTok claimed that it would take down videos that violated its community guidelines -- such as ones promoting drug use or gambling -- but instead designated those videos "hard to
find."
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The other was that TikTok's "restricted mode" -- which was supposed to filter out a host of content deemed inappropriate for minors -- didn't work as promised.
"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," Liu wrote.
He added that Paxton "established that this conduct violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act."
The ruling comes in a complaint brought by Paxton in January 2025, when he alleged that the company downplayed how often the app served teens "inappropriate" content, and
also failed to disclose "efforts to intentionally addict minors.”
Other states are pursuing similar claims against the company.
Paxton's complaint alleged that
TikTok “represents that the categories of inappropriate content on its platform, including drugs, nudity, alcohol, and profanity, are all 'infrequent' and 'mild,'” and that those
representations were “misleading, deceptive, and false.”
Paxton also alleged in the original complaint that TikTok "pursued innovative design features that keep
young eyes glued to the screen."
Thursday's ruling doesn't address the addiction allegations.
Liu is expected to hold a trial next month regarding
potential monetary damages and other remedies.
TikTok has not responded to MediaPost's request for comment.