PITTSBURGH, PA — Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday announced a civil lawsuit against TikTok, Inc., alleging that the social media giant deceptively markets its platform to secure an age 13+ rating while exposing minors to mature content and employing features designed to drive compulsive use.
The 65-page complaint, filed in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas, contends that TikTok violates the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law. According to state officials, the company misrepresents the frequency of mature audience material—including nudity, sexual content, profanity, alcohol, and drug use—as "infrequent" or "mild" to maintain a lower rating in mobile app stores, giving parents a false impression of safety.
"TikTok has built its empire based on a model of addictiveness at all costs and expanded that empire using deception about what sort of content is viewable for kids," Attorney General Sunday said during a press conference. "This is not an indictment against modern technology... rather, this is an action to hold accountable a company that values dollars over mental wellness."
The lawsuit also targets the platform's core interface features, such as endless scrolling, push notifications, and the algorithmic "For You" feed. State prosecutors argue that these design choices are intentionally engineered to maximize time spent on the app to generate advertising revenue, impairing youth development and mental health.
The Office of Attorney General is seeking declaratory and injunctive relief to compel TikTok to accurately disclose its content ratings, fix circumventable safety controls like Restricted Mode and Family Pairing, and implement safeguards to protect underage users from platform addiction.
