Hawaii sues TikTok, says platform deliberately harms children
Hawaii accuses TikTok and ByteDance of addicting children, endangering their mental health and deceiving families about the platforms' safety.
by Jeremy Yurow, Court House News, December 3, 2025
HONOLULU (CN) — The state of Hawaii filed a lawsuit Wednesday accusing TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, of intentionally designing the platform to addict children, surveil them and expose them to dangerous content while misleading families about the risks.
Attorney General Anne Lopez, through local attorney Douglas Chin, filed the complaint in Oahu First Circuit Court. The state accuses TikTok of deliberately using “coercive design tactics” that exploit children’s developing brains to make the platform as addictive as possible, even as the company publicly claimed that safety was its top priority.
“TikTok’s business model is predicated upon compelling its users to spend as much as possible on its platform,” the state said in its lawsuit, citing internal company documents that acknowledge the “advertising-based business model encourages optimization for time spent in the app.”
Hawaii joins a growing list of states taking legal action against TikTok. But the state’s 105-page complaint goes further than many others, presenting internal company documents that suggest TikTok executives were aware of the harm while prioritizing profits.
According to the state, TikTok research found that “compulsive usage correlates with a slew of negative mental health effects like loss of analytical skills, memory formation, contextual thinking, conversational depth, empathy and increased anxiety.”
That research also noted that “compulsive usage interferes with essential personal responsibilities like sufficient sleep, work/school responsibilities and connecting with loved ones.”
Hawaii’s complaint arrives as the state grapples with its own youth mental health crisis. According to the 2023 Hawaii Youth Risk Behavior Survey, about 34% of public middle school students have felt sad or hopeless for two weeks or more, and 26% have seriously thought about suicide.
The state notes that from 2018 to 2022, 51 youth between ages 10 and 19 died by suicide in Hawaii, making it the leading cause of death in that age group.
Hawaii claims TikTok deliberately targeted children from its inception, building on the Musical.ly platform that focused on and popular with teens and tweens. Internal documents cited by the plaintiff reveal that TikTok considered users under 13 to be “a critical demographic,” believing young users would continue using the platform even after they grew up.
They also claim the company was aware that its platform operated “in part like a virtual strip club,” where viewers could send virtual gifts worth real money to young streamers, often in exchange for sexually suggestive behavior.
A 2022 Forbes article described TikTok LIVE as “a strip club filled with 15-year-olds,” the state notes in its complaint. Internal TikTok documents acknowledged that the feature enabled “exploitation of live hosts” and put users at risk of grooming, but the company delayed implementing safety measures because LIVE was “such a huge part of the strategy” and too profitable to restrict, according to the complaint.
Hawaii also takes aim at TikTok’s safety features, claiming they are largely ineffective and misleadingly marketed. The platform’s 60-minute daily time limit for teens, for example, can be easily bypassed, extended or disabled entirely. An internal study found it reduced average daily use by only minutes. TikTok promoted it as a meaningful safeguard.
“Our goal is not to reduce the time spent,” a TikTok product manager wrote in an internal document about the company’s screen time management tools.
Hawaii is seeking fines ranging from $500 to $10,000 for each violation of the state’s Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices Law. Under this law, each day a violation occurs is counted separately. Considering TikTok’s years of operations in Hawaii and the potentially thousands of daily violations, the total penalties could reach hundreds of millions of dollars.
The state is also requesting a permanent injunction to prevent TikTok from continuing its “deceptive and harmful” practices. In addition, Hawaii demands that TikTok, along with its agents and employees, be permanently barred from engaging in what the state claims are unfair or deceptive practices in the marketing, promotion, sale, or distribution of the platform within the state.
Honolulu-based Starn O’Toole Marcus & Fisher and Seattle-based Keller Rohrback LLP have been appointed as special deputy attorneys general in the case. Chin, who filed the lawsuit, served as Hawaii Attorney General from 2015-2018.
Lopez, Chin and representatives for TikTok did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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STATE OF HAWAIʻI ANNOUNCES LEGAL ACTION AGAINST TIKTOK FOR HARMING CHILDREN AND MISLEADING THE PUBLIC
News Release 2025-98 from Hawaii Attorney General, Dec. 3, 2025
HONOLULU – The state of Hawaiʻi today announced a lawsuit against Bytedance Inc., the parent company of TikTok, alleging that the social media giant knowingly designed an addictive platform that harms users, particularly children, while misleading the public about the risks.
TikTok operates one of the world’s largest social media platforms, with more than one billion users globally and over 150 million in the United States, including many in Hawaiʻi. These users, especially children, are central to TikTok’s multibillion dollar revenue model. According to the state’s complaint, TikTok has deliberately exploited them for economic gain.
“The mental health and wellbeing of our keiki must come first. TikTok’s design preys on their vulnerabilities, creating an environment where addiction and anxiety thrive,” said Governor Josh Green. “As leaders, it’s our responsibility to protect our youth from platforms that prioritize profit over their health. This lawsuit is a crucial step in holding TikTok accountable for the harm it’s causing and ensuring that our children can safely navigate the digital world.”
As outlined in the complaint, TikTok’s business model is built on compulsive use, structuring the platform to keep users engaged for as long as possible. Every additional minute on the platform generates more personal data and more advertising revenue for TikTok.
TikTok employs what its own employees have described as “coercive design tactics.” These features are engineered to influence users’ neurobiology, especially dopamine production, in ways similar to tactics used in the gambling industry, compelling users to spend as much time as possible on the platform.
The complaint alleges that these addictive techniques are especially harmful to children, who TikTok knows have limited ability to self-regulate their screen time. A substantial portion of TikTok’s user base is under 18, including many under 13. TikTok has twice been sued by the U.S. government for violating the Children’s Online Privacy and Protection Act (COPPA). Despite this history, TikTok fails to warn children, parents or the public about the potential risks and continues to misrepresent the nature and safety of its platform. The state is also alleging in its complaint that TikTok continues to maintain inadequate age verification and child protection systems.
“TikTok has long known about the mental health risks its platform poses, particularly on our children and young adults. At the heart of this lawsuit is a deep concern for the safety and well-being of our community. We must stand up for our families and ensure that the necessary reforms are put in place to protect our communities from exploitation,” said Attorney General Anne Lopez.
The state’s legal action seeks to stop TikTok from deploying harmful and deceptive practices, require meaningful safeguards for children, and ensure TikTok accurately discloses the risks associated with its platform.
The state is being represented by the law firms Starn OʻToole, Marcus and Fisher, and Keller Rohrback L.L.P, who have been appointed to serve as special deputy attorneys general in this matter.
A copy of the complaint can be found here.
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MP: Hawaii Sues TikTok For Allegedly Harming Minors 12/05/2025 – “The claims are similar to ones raised by more than a dozen other states, including New York, California and Nevada.”
SA: State sues TikTok parent ByteDance for allegedly exploiting app’s users | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
BIN: State sues TikTok parent company, alleging social media giant harming keiki, misleading public : Big Island Now