New Hampshire Judge Greenlights Groundbreaking Lawsuit Against TikTok’s Addictive Child Targeting

TikTok's algorithmic hooks for young users just hit a legal snag—and regulators aren't swiping left.

The Gavel Drops on Dopamine Design

A New Hampshire judge just refused to dismiss the state's explosive lawsuit accusing TikTok of engineering addictive features that exploit children's neurochemistry. No dollar figures disclosed—yet—but the discovery phase could expose the platform's 'engagement-first' playbook.

From Viral to Liable?

The ruling opens discovery into TikTok's infamous 'For You' black box—where Wall Street's favorite growth hack (read: psychological manipulation) now faces its first real constitutional stress test. Cue the discovery phase fireworks.

The Bottom Line

While Meta writes checks to settle similar claims, ByteDance opts to fight—betting the farm that American courts will tolerate the same data-for-dopamine swaps that made its $225B valuation possible. Bold strategy for an election year.

Similar claims have targeted other social media platforms

Meta has been accused by various states of using harmful, addictive design features in its apps that may negatively affect the mental health of children. Discord was also sued by New Jersey in April, accused of misleading the public about the effectiveness of its safety options for children.

In May, lawmakers reintroduced the Kids Online Safety Act after it failed to progress in 2024. This law WOULD make social media companies responsible for preventing harm to children using their platforms.

TikTok’s legal problems, on the other hand, are not new. In 2024, Joe Biden passed a law demanding that TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, sell the app or face a U.S. ban. Following this, TikTok got deleted from Google and Apple’s app stores, shortly before Trump took office. 

Since then, TRUMP has delayed implementing this ban multiple times. The deadline to sell TikTok’s operations in the US has been extended three times. The latest deadline is now 17th September, 2025. 

In June, Trump said that several wealthy individuals were interested in buying TikTok and even mentioned a possible deal with China in the future. 

TikTok is developing a new app for US users

Separately, The Information reported TikTok is developing a new app for American users, reportedly using a different algorithm. However, TikTok disputed this report, labeling it as inaccurate.

Reportedly, on the same day when the new app launches, the existing app will get removed from the US Google and Apple app stores. According to sources familiar with the matter, US users may be able to use the current app till March 2026, although the timelines may vary. 

Furthermore, the report stated that several practical challenges exist when it comes to transfering content and profiles of current TikTok users on the new US app. This also means that US users may find it difficult to view content from other countries. 

ByteDance lawyers have argued that building a new app for the US would take several years, and at that point, it may become “a fundamentally different platform with different content.” This point still holds true whether or not TikTok uses it as an argument to avoid building a US version of its application.

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