Case Overview
Keller Rohrback L.L.P. and Stan O’Toole Marcus & Fisher represent the State of Hawai‘i in this action that seeks to hold TikTok accountable for the harm that it is causing to residents of Hawai‘i, including some of its most vulnerable residents—its children.
The State alleges in its Complaint that:
TikTok, the operator of one of the largest social media platforms in the world, exploits TikTok users, including children, for economic gain.
TikTok’s business model is based on compulsive use—designing its platform so that users spend as much time as possible on it. More time spent on the platform means more personal data, and more money, for TikTok.
TikTok’s platform is designed to be addictive. TikTok designs and employes features which its own employees have described as “coercive design tactics.” These features are designed to affect the neurobiology of the brain and the production of dopamine—a hormone that plays an important role in mood and motivation. Many of these strategies are the same ones employed by the gambling industry.
TikTok knows that it is “particularly popular with younger users,” who “have minimal ability to self-regulate effectively” and “do not have executive function to control their screen time[.]”
TikTok fails to warn children, their parents, or the public of the risks and potential harm from its platform and misrepresents to the public the nature of its product and the risks associated with it.
TikTok’s lack of concern for the safety of children is particularly alarming given its user base. Since the beginning, TikTok has focused on child users and their value to the platform’s business. TikTok started by emulating, and ultimately acquiring, a platform called Musical.ly with a large child users base. To this day, a significant portion of TikTok’s user base is under 18, and many users are under 13. TikTok’s treatment of underage users has gotten it sued not once, but twice, by the United States government for violating the Children’s Online Privacy and Protection Act (“COPPA”).
TikTok’s age assurance and age verification systems remain deficient, and TikTok’s efforts to protect these vulnerable users remains inadequate.
Press Coverage
12/03/2025 - State of Hawai'i Announces Legal Action Against TikTok for Harming Children and Misleading the Public
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