On August 19, 2025, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a sweeping lawsuit against TikTok Inc., thrusting the social media giant into the spotlight for what state officials describe as "deliberate and illegal exploitation" of children and teens. The 99-page complaint, submitted to Hennepin County District Court (Case No. 27-CV-25-15301), alleges that TikTok’s addictive design, algorithmic content recommendations, and virtual currency system not only violate Minnesota’s consumer protection laws but also endanger the mental health and financial safety of the state’s youngest residents.
According to the St. Cloud Times and other outlets, Ellison’s office accuses TikTok of engineering its platform—through features like infinite scroll, push notifications, and beauty filters—to maximize the time children and teens spend on the app. The complaint details how these mechanisms, combined with the platform’s algorithm, create what Ellison calls a "habitual dependence" among young users. "By exploiting children’s unfinished neurological reward systems that drive desire and motivation, TikTok creates widespread habitual dependence on its app among young people," the civil complaint reads.
The lawsuit’s accusations go beyond just time spent online. Ellison claims TikTok’s internal investigations show "hundreds of thousands of children" have bypassed the platform’s minimum age restrictions for TikTok LIVE, a feature that allows users to livestream content and receive digital "Gifts" from viewers. These Gifts, purchased with in-app "Coins," can be converted back into cash—effectively creating what Ellison’s team calls a "shadow economy" within the app. The complaint alleges that TikTok operates this virtual money transfer system without a state license, and that the lax age filters have enabled minors to monetize content, sometimes involving nudity and sexual activity.
In one of the lawsuit’s most serious claims, Ellison’s office states that the company "profited significantly from 'transactional gifting' involving nudity and sexual activity, all facilitated by TikTok’s virtual currency system." While TikTok officially restricts monetization to users 18 and older, the complaint describes the company’s age verification mechanisms as "lax and ineffective," allowing minors to slip through the cracks and exposing them to potential exploitation.
Ellison also argues that TikTok’s use of colorful, animated emojis and popular Disney characters as part of its digital currency system is a calculated move to attract and retain young users. "TikTok targeted children through its use of popular Disney characters and colorful, animated emojis, which it uses as digital currency," the complaint asserts. The state’s legal team further contends that these tactics are not accidental but rather a deliberate attempt to "exploit the vulnerabilities of young minds for financial gain."
The statistics cited in the lawsuit are striking. According to TikTok’s own data, children between the ages of 13 and 17 check the app an average of 17 times a day, spending roughly two hours daily on the platform. More than 20% of teenagers reportedly access TikTok between midnight and 5 a.m., raising concerns about the impact of late-night screen time on sleep and mental health.
These concerns are echoed in the complaint’s references to a 2023 University of Minnesota study, which claims that TikTok use among youth is linked to "harmful consequences to their well-being." The study and the lawsuit both describe symptoms among young users that resemble those of addiction: excessive preoccupation, irritability, anxiety, and increased interpersonal conflicts. The complaint also alleges that prolonged TikTok use increases body dissatisfaction, disordered eating behaviors, low self-esteem, self-harm, and even suicidal thoughts among Minnesota’s youth.
At a press conference announcing the suit, Ellison was blunt in his criticism: "TikTok prioritized profit over people, and especially over the wellbeing of our kids," he said, adding that the company had "exploited the vulnerabilities of young minds for financial gain." This isn’t Ellison’s first foray into legal action against Big Tech. Minnesota joined multistate litigation against Meta in 2023 over similar allegations involving Facebook and Instagram.
In response, TikTok has pushed back hard against the accusations. Company spokesperson Nathaniel Brown told reporters, "This lawsuit is based on misleading and inaccurate claims that fail to recognize the robust safety measures TikTok has voluntarily implemented to support the well-being of our community." In a statement to the St. Cloud Times, TikTok highlighted its suite of more than 50 safety features and settings for teen accounts, including Family Pairing, time limits, and teen-default privacy settings. "Teen accounts on TikTok come with 50+ features and settings designed to help young people safely express themselves, discover and learn. Through our Family Pairing tool, parents can view or customize 20+ content and privacy settings, including screen time, content filters, and our time away feature to pause a teen’s access to our app," the company wrote.
Minnesota is not alone in its efforts to rein in TikTok. Over the past year, states such as Arkansas, Indiana, and Utah have launched their own legal actions against the platform, reflecting a nationwide surge in regulatory scrutiny of social media companies. Lawmakers and regulators across the country are increasingly focused on the mental health risks posed by platforms like TikTok, as well as the opaque digital economies that have sprung up within these apps.
The legal stakes for TikTok are high. Minnesota is seeking a permanent injunction that would force the company to implement design and policy changes, as well as civil penalties of up to $25,000 per violation. State attorneys argue that each instance of a Minnesota child accessing TikTok could be counted as a separate violation, potentially exposing the company to enormous financial liability. The case will proceed in Hennepin County District Court, where the state will pursue penalties, profit forfeiture, and structural reforms to TikTok’s platform. The company is expected to mount a vigorous defense, challenging both the factual basis and the legal foundation of Minnesota’s claims.
Meanwhile, the national conversation about TikTok’s future continues to intensify. As reported by the St. Cloud Times, U.S. government officials have raised concerns about potential national security risks associated with TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance. President Donald Trump has set a deadline of September 17, 2025, for ByteDance to sell the platform or face a possible U.S. ban—though the deadline has already been extended three times and could be pushed again. TikTok has consistently denied allegations that it shares U.S. user data with the Chinese government.
As the legal battle unfolds in Minnesota, the outcome could have far-reaching implications—not just for TikTok, but for the broader social media industry and the millions of young people who use these platforms every day. The case represents a new front in the ongoing struggle to balance innovation, free expression, and the protection of vulnerable users in the digital age.
