The state of Hawaii is suing ByteDance Inc., the parent company of TikTok, alleging the largest social media company in the world exploits 1 billion users worldwide — more than
150 million in the U.S. alone, including a large number of children, by false marketing and promotion for economic gain.
The state’s 101-page complaint filed Wednesday in the Oahu Circuit Court uses TikTok’s own words against it, saying, “(t)he advertising-
based business model encourages optimization for time spent in the app” and “create(s) incentives for companies to grow at the
expense of their users.”
The lawsuit alleges “the decision to exploit American children for economic gain is being made at the highest levels of the corporate organization,” and “ByteDance Ltd. exclusively controls
and operates the TikTok platform.”
It aggressively markets to children and teens, initially allowing users to lip sync to pop music by celebrities who appealed to tweens and teens.
ByteDance reported
$48 billion in revenue for the second quarter of 2025, surpassing Meta’s revenue of $42.3 billion, making it the largest social media company in the world.
It says TikTok’s employees have called the features the company uses as “coercive design tactics,” which allegedly “foster psychological dependence and take
advantage of dopamine-
inducing strategies used by the gambling industry,” designed to make it “as addictive as possible so that its users keep coming back and spending as much time as possible on TikTok’s
product.”
The state is seeking more than $40,000 in civil penalties, and says the state court has jurisdiction “because Defendants have intentionally availed themselves of the Hawaii market.”
Gov. Josh Green said in
a written statement: “The mental health and well-being of our keiki must come first. TikTok’s design preys on their vulnerabilities, creating an environment where addiction and anxiety thrive.
“As leaders, it’s our responsibility to protect our youth from platforms that prioritize profit over their health.”
Green called the lawsuit “a crucial step in holding TikTok accountable for the harm it’s causing and ensuring that our children can safely navigate the digital world.”
By this lawsuit, the state seeks to stop TikTok from using harmful and deceptive practices, which would require the company to put in place meaningful safeguards for children and that TikTok accurately discloses the risks associated with its platform.
The complaint alleges that the techniques are especially harmful to children because they have limited ability to self-regulate their screen time.
A significant portion of TikTok’s user base is under 18, many under 13, yet the company’s age assurance and age verification systems remain deficient, allowing unfettered access to the platform, the state alleges.
The lawsuit notes that at its inception, TikTok modeled and eventually acquired Musical.ly, a platform focusing on child users and their value to its business.
The complaint cites a 2022 Forbes article, which describes TikTok LIVE is a “strip club filled with 15-year-olds.” And congressional offices, reports and nonprofits were able to create fake accounts that allowed them to pass as adults.
TikTok employees have said the company’s policy allowed users that self-
identified as age 9 or appeared as young as 6 but had not uploaded more than three or four videos, they would not remove the
account.
The lawsuit alleges its livestreaming feature facilitates the sexual exploitation of children. It also uses beauty filters that alter users’ appearances, which can lead to negative body image body dysmorphia symptoms, eating disorders and oversexualization.
The U.S. government has sued the company twice for violating the Children’s Online Privacy and Protection Act (COPPA), yet TikTok fails to warn children, parents and the public about the potential risks, and misrepresents the nature and safety of its platform.
COPPA regulates the conditions under which the developers of platforms and websites can collect, use, or disclose the personal information of children under 13, and under the act, developers cannot obtain the information of such children without verifiable consent from their parents.
Defendant ByteDance Inc. is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in San Jose, Calif.
Defendant ByteDance Ltd., headquartered in Beijing and registered in the Cayman Islands, is a multinational internet technology holding company, and is the parent company of TikTok Inc., TikTok Ltd., and ByteDance Inc., the complaint says.
ByteDance Ltd. designs, owns and/or operates TikTok, and designs, owns, and/or operates the TikTok social media platform.
TikTok CEO Shou Chew said he was in regular communication with ByteDance Ltd. CEO Liang Rubo. ByteDance admitted its personnel outside the U.S. can access information from American TikTok users, including public videos and comments.
The complaint says, “On information and belief, ByteDance Ltd. also has access to United States TikTok users’ private information.”
The complaint provides TikTok’s background, saying that in 2016 ByteDance created Douyin, a Chinese
music-based app modeled after Musical.ly, which allowed users, including minors, to create 15-second videos of themselves lip-syncing and dancing to popular songs and movie scenes, then posting them to a scrollable feed for others to view.
ByteDance bought
Musical.ly for $1 billion and merged it into TikTok.
The company’s internal documents show U.S. children average nearly two hours a day on TikTok, with many spending more than four hours a day on it.
The complaint says TikTok’s business model is based on monetization of its users by selling access and information about its users to advertisers and companies so they can sell them their products and services.
“Researchers studying the effect that social media has on the brain have shown that social media exploits ‘the same neural circuitry,’ as ‘seen in those with gambling addiction and recreational drug users’ to ‘keep consumers using their products as much as possible,’” the lawsuit says.
