On Friday, the US Justice Department initiated a lawsuit against TikTok and its parent company ByteDance, citing failures to safeguard children’s privacy on the platform. The government asserts that TikTok breached the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which mandates that services directed at children must secure parental consent to gather personal data from users under 13 years old.
This legal action marks another step in the ongoing scrutiny of TikTok and ByteDance by US authorities concerned about potential data misuse and harmful content influences orchestrated by the Chinese government.
The lawsuit, supported by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), aims to halt what it describes as “TikTok’s unlawful massive-scale invasions of children’s privacy.” According to the DOJ, TikTok allowed children under 13 to create accounts and interact with adults through videos and messages, collecting personal information without parental consent.
The US alleges that TikTok has long violated the privacy of millions of American children by retaining their personal information. “TikTok knowingly and repeatedly violated kids’ privacy, endangering the safety of millions across the country,” stated FTC Chair Lina Khan. The FTC is now seeking penalties of up to $51,744 per daily violation.
TikTok, which reported engaging with the FTC for over a year to resolve these concerns, expressed disappointment at the move towards litigation rather than a collaborative resolution. With about 170 million users in the US, the platform is also contending with a new law that requires ByteDance to sell TikTok’s US operations by January 19 or face a ban.
Previously, TikTok faced penalties in the European Union and the UK for similar issues regarding children’s data management.
Moreover, the US Senate recently passed a bill to extend the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act protections to teenagers up to age 17, prohibit targeted advertising to children and teens, and allow for deleting their information from social media. This bill awaits approval from the Republican-controlled House, which is in recess until September.
