Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued TikTok on Thursday for exposing young children to inappropriate content.
The lawsuit accuses the short-form video app of violating the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act by listing itself as appropriate for children. The app is listed as an app for children ages 12 and older on the Apple App Store and as one for children aged 13 and up on the Microsoft and Google Play stores.
"TikTok actively worked to deceive parents and lure children onto their app despite the presence of an overwhelming amount of profane and illicit material," Paxton said in the filing, per Chron.
The suit also accused TikTok of exposing young children to "endless amounts" of content with mature themes, including profanity, sexual content, drugs, and alcohol.
Other Lawsuits Against TikTok
This is the second time Paxton has sued TikTok. He previously filed a suit where he accused the company of sharing and selling the personal information of its young users without the consent of their parents. That lawsuit echoed a similar complaint from the DOJ last August, where they accused TikTok of collecting the personal information of children under 13 without parental approval.
In October of last year, more than a dozen states and the District of Columbia sued the short-form video platform, claiming it harms children's mental health, employs addictive design features, and fails to protect minors from harmful content.
Read Also: Texas Lawmakers Mulls Social Media Ban for Minors Amid Rise in Cyberbullying, Exploitation
The lawsuits are not limited to the United States. In November, the families of seven French teenage girls sued the social media platform for using an algorithm that allegedly exposed teens to content promoting self-harm, self-mutilation, and eating disorders. Two of the girls died by suicide.
Potential TikTok Ban in the US
The US Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on Friday from TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, against a law that would ban the app in the US beginning Jan. 19. Should the ban push through, new users would not be able to download the app. Existing users, on the other hand, would no longer be able to update their app.
