A Texas judge has found that TikTok misled users about the effectiveness of its child safety measures, including claims surrounding how the platform filters inappropriate content for minors and how its “Restricted Mode” works.
The ruling represents a significant legal setback for TikTok and its parent company ByteDance as governments and regulators around the world intensify scrutiny of how social media platforms protect children online.
Judge Finds TikTok’s Safety Claims Violated Texas Law
Texas sued TikTok in January 2025, accusing the company of marketing its platform as safe for children while allegedly failing to provide the level of protection it promised to parents and young users.
According to the court ruling, TikTok told users it would remove content that violated its Community Guidelines. However, Texas argued that the company internally categorized some prohibited material as “hard to find” instead of “do not allow,” meaning the content could remain available on the platform rather than being removed entirely.
Judge Cory Liu agreed that the practice violated Texas consumer protection law.
The judge also found that Texas had established that TikTok’s Restricted Mode did not work as advertised and that minors could still be exposed to material TikTok said the feature was designed to filter out.
What Is TikTok’s Restricted Mode?
TikTok has promoted a range of safety tools aimed at teenagers and families, including Restricted Mode, screen-time controls and its Family Pairing system.
Restricted Mode is intended to limit exposure to content that may not be appropriate for younger audiences. TikTok’s Family Pairing tools also allow parents and guardians to connect their accounts with a teenager’s account and manage selected content, privacy and well-being settings.
TikTok has continued expanding those tools. In 2025, the company announced additional Family Pairing features designed to give parents greater visibility into their teenagers’ accounts and more control over safety settings.
But the Texas ruling focuses on whether the company’s actual content filtering and Restricted Mode protections matched the representations made to users.
That distinction could prove critical.
The case is not simply about whether TikTok offered parental controls. The central legal question is whether the company accurately represented how effectively those controls and content restrictions actually protected children.
Texas Case Will Now Move Toward Trial
The Texas Attorney General’s Office said the case will now proceed to trial, where penalties and other remedies will be determined. According to the reporting, the trial is expected to be scheduled next month.
TikTok did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment outside regular business hours following the ruling.
The court’s decision does not yet determine the final penalties TikTok may face. Instead, it establishes a significant legal finding in Texas’ favor before the next stage of the case.
The Texas Lawsuit Raises Broader Questions About Social Media Safety
The ruling arrives as TikTok and other major technology companies face growing pressure over the safety of children and teenagers online.
Texas’ original complaint alleged broader concerns about the protections available to users aged 13 to 17. The complaint examined TikTok’s Family Pairing system and argued that parents had limited ability to control certain privacy and account settings belonging to minors.
The latest ruling specifically puts TikTok’s public safety claims under the legal microscope.
For parents, the case raises a question that is becoming increasingly important across the technology industry:
When a social media company says a safety feature protects children, how much protection does that feature actually provide?
TikTok Is Already Facing Multiple Legal Challenges
The Texas case is unfolding amid a broader wave of litigation and regulatory pressure targeting major social media platforms.
In August, TikTok agreed to settle three U.S. lawsuits brought by young people who accused social media companies of designing addictive platforms that harmed their mental health, according to Reuters.
Separately, TikTok and ByteDance also agreed in August to a $400 million settlement with the U.S. Justice Department over allegations involving children’s online privacy laws and the collection of personal data from users under 13.
The company has also faced increasing pressure over how it identifies underage users, handles children’s data and protects younger audiences from harmful material.
A Global Crackdown on Child Safety Is Accelerating
TikTok’s legal setback in Texas is part of a much larger global debate over children’s safety on social media.
Just this week, California enacted new measures targeting social media features that lawmakers say can encourage compulsive use among children under 16, including features such as infinite scrolling and algorithmic autoplay.
The growing regulatory push reflects increasing concern that platforms must do more than simply offer parental controls — they may also be required to demonstrate that those protections work as advertised.
Regulators in other countries are also examining whether age-verification systems and parental controls on major platforms effectively prevent children from accessing harmful material.
Why the Texas Ruling Matters
The Texas decision could have consequences beyond TikTok.
Technology companies increasingly promote parental controls, content filters, age restrictions and safety modes as evidence that they are protecting younger users.
The Texas court ruling sends a potentially important message:
Providing a safety feature may not be enough if the company overstates what that feature can actually do.
As the case moves toward trial, TikTok could face penalties and additional remedies that have yet to be determined.
The outcome could also become an important test of how aggressively U.S. states can use consumer protection laws to challenge technology companies over claims made about child safety.
For TikTok, the immediate legal battle may be in Texas.
But the larger fight over whether social media companies are doing enough to protect children is rapidly becoming a global one.
And with the case now moving closer to trial, the biggest consequences for TikTok may still be ahead.
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