A safety setting that failed its users
A Texas judge has ruled that TikTok breached the state’s consumer protection law by misleading users about how effectively it protected children from inappropriate content.
The decision centres on TikTok’s underage filtering and its Restricted Mode feature, which was promoted as a tool for limiting access to material unsuitable for younger viewers. Judge Cory Liu found that the system did not work as advertised, leaving underage users exposed to content the company said would be blocked.
It is a significant blow to TikTok’s safety claims.
What Judge Cory Liu found
Texas launched its legal action in January 2025, arguing that TikTok had falsely presented its platform as safe for younger audiences. During the case, state prosecutors said the company assured users that material violating its Community Guidelines would be removed.
However, Judge Liu heard that TikTok internally classified some rule-breaking posts as “hard to find” rather than “do not allow”. That distinction meant certain videos could remain online, even though they breached the platform’s own rules.
The judge concluded that this two-track approach violated Texas consumer protection laws. He also found that Restricted Mode failed to deliver the protection users were led to expect, allowing children to encounter inappropriate media that TikTok claimed the feature would filter out.
For a product built around an endlessly refreshing video feed, that finding cuts to the heart of how TikTok’s safety technology is marketed and operated.
Trial to determine penalties and further remedies
Following the ruling, the office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said the case will proceed to trial to determine financial penalties and any additional court-ordered remedies.
Officials in Paxton’s office expect to finalise the trial date within the coming month. The next stage will establish the consequences of the court’s finding that TikTok misled consumers over its safety controls.
TikTok did not immediately respond to requests for comment submitted outside standard working hours.
Wider legal pressure on social media companies
The Texas ruling arrives as major social platforms face intensifying scrutiny over youth safety, addictive design and the real-world performance of their moderation tools.
In August, TikTok agreed to resolve three separate US lawsuits brought by minors who alleged that the company deliberately designed its platform to be addictive and damaged their mental health. Around the same time, Meta Platforms agreed to pay up to $18 billion to settle similar youth addiction claims across the United States.
Under Meta’s decade-long agreement with nearly every US state, the company will pay up to $18 billion and introduce strict new limits on how teenagers use Facebook and Instagram. The deal resolved a major federal court case accusing Meta of concealing safety risks and harming young users. Before the settlement, California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey had sought nearly $200 billion in potential civil penalties.
Plaintiff attorney Joseph VanZandt said the terms of TikTok’s three youth addiction settlements would remain confidential until formal written contracts are finalised.
Those cases are only a fraction of the litigation moving through the California court system. TikTok settled three bellwether cases involving minor plaintiffs identified only by their initials, selected from approximately 3,300 consolidated lawsuits overseen by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carolyn Kuhl. Claims against Meta, Google’s YouTube and Snap Inc’s Snapchat are continuing towards an October trial.
The technology companies have consistently rejected the allegations, saying they provide extensive safeguards and tools intended to protect adolescent users.
Why it Matters
This ruling draws a clear line between offering a safety feature and delivering the protection promised to users. Restricted Mode is not merely a line of code or a toggle buried in an app’s settings; for parents and young users, it represents a commitment that certain content will be kept out of reach. As social platforms rely increasingly on algorithmic feeds and automated moderation, courts are now asking whether those digital controls work in practice, not just whether they exist on screen. For TikTok, the verdict raises the legal stakes for every safety claim made inside the app. For families, it underscores a harder truth: a gadget is only as trustworthy as the protections it actually provides.
