Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against TikTok on October 3, alleging violations of the state’s new social media law designed to protect children online. 

The suit, filed in a federal district court in Galveston, claims TikTok fails to comply with the Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment Act, which took partial effect on September 1, 2023.

The law prohibits social media companies from sharing or selling minors’ personal information without parental consent and requires the creation of tools for verified parental supervision of minor accounts. 

Paxton argues that TikTok’s “family pairing” feature falls short of legal requirements, as it doesn’t mandate parent identity verification through “commercially reasonable” methods and requires minor consent for pairing.

The lawsuit also alleges TikTok unlawfully shares and sells minors’ personal identifying information to third parties, including advertisers and search engines, and displays targeted advertising to known minors.

TikTok denies these allegations, stating that it offers robust safeguards for teens and parents. The company points to its process for parents in certain states, including Texas, to request account deletion for their teens, which involves identity verification through photo submission with a government-issued ID. 

“We strongly disagree with these allegations and, in fact, we offer robust safeguards for teens and parents, including family pairing, all of which are publicly available,” TikTok spokesperson Jason Grosse wrote in an emailed statement.

TikTok’s privacy policies state that the company does not sell personal information and restricts data sharing only when required by law.

The Texas Attorney General’s office seeks civil penalties of $10,000 per violation, plus attorney’s fees. This legal action follows a federal judge’s August ruling temporarily blocking parts of the Texas social media law while allowing others to take effect.

In response to the new law, Meta has introduced enhanced parental control features for Instagram and Facebook, allowing verified parents to set time limits and update account settings for their teens.

Meta, Snapchat, and TikTok recently joined forces in the Thrive initiative to combat the spread of suicide and self-harm content across their platforms.

In June, the Texas Ethics Commission approved a rule requiring online creators and personalities to disclose if they are compensated for sharing or creating political ads and content.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) also recently filed a lawsuit against TikTok, accusing the social media giant of unlawfully collecting children’s data and impeding parental control over accounts.