"TikTok safety feature left children exposed to inappropriate content, judge rules", 11 September 2026

A Texas court found TikTok in violation of state consumer protection laws ... ruling that the social media platform misled the public about its underage content filtering and the effectiveness of its 'Restricted Mode' safety settings... Texas initially launched ... in January 2025, alleging the company falsely marketed its service as safe for younger audiences...

... According to the ruling by Judge Cory Liu, state prosecutors showed that while TikTok assured users it would remove material breaching its Community Guidelines, the firm internally labeled certain rule-breaking posts as 'hard to find' rather than 'do not allow,' allowing the content to stay online...Judge Liu concluded that this dual approach violated state consumer-protection statutes...

...The judge further noted that Texas successfully proved the platform's 'Restricted Mode' failed to perform as advertised, leaving underage users exposed to inappropriate media that TikTok claimed would be blocked.

...The office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said the lawsuit will now move to trial to determine financial penalties and further court remedies...