The US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against TikTok and its parent company ByteDance on Friday (August 2), accusing them of infringing on children’s privacy on social media applications.
In a statement released on Friday, the Department of Justice stated that TikTok’s application violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), and filed a civil lawsuit against TikTok, ByteDance, and its related companies in the Central District of California.
COPPA requires obtaining parental consent when collecting, using, or disclosing personal information of users under the age of 13.
Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin Mizer said, “Despite the court ordering TikTok to cease its actions, TikTok continues to collect and retain children’s personal information, which the Department of Justice is deeply concerned about.”
This lawsuit marks the latest legal action by the US against TikTok and its Chinese parent company. The US government is concerned that the company is inappropriately collecting a large amount of data from Americans for the Chinese government, while potentially disseminating content with harmful effects on Americans. The lawsuit also demands that TikTok delete personal information collected from children upon parents’ requests.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has also joined the lawsuit, stating that the lawsuit aims to stop the “illegal practices of TikTok that massively infringe on children’s privacy.”
FTC Chair Lina Khan said, “TikTok has knowingly and repeatedly violated children’s privacy rights, posing a threat to the safety of millions of children in the US. The FTC will continue to fully utilize its powers to protect online children, especially as companies deploy increasingly sophisticated digital tools to monitor children and profit from their data.” The agency referred the case to the Department of Justice in June.
The Department of Justice stated that since 2019, TikTok has allowed children to create regular TikTok accounts, view and share videos and messages with adults and others on the regular TikTok platform without obtaining parental consent when collecting personal information of these children.
The statement pointed out that there are millions of children under the age of 13 in the US using TikTok. Even accounts created under the “children’s mode” (a simplified version of TikTok designed for children under 13) have had their email addresses and other types of personal information illegally collected and retained. Furthermore, when parents discover their children’s accounts and request the deletion of accounts and information, the defendants often fail to comply with these requests.
The FTC, in another statement, stated that it has requested the court to impose civil fines on ByteDance and TikTok and issue a permanent injunction against them to prevent future violations of COPPA. Under FTC laws, each violation can result in a maximum civil fine of $51,744 per day.
According to Reuters, TikTok did not immediately comment but stated in June that it had been working with the FTC for over a year to address the agency’s concerns and expressed disappointment in the agency’s decision to pursue litigation instead of continuing to seek a reasonable solution.
On Tuesday of this week (July 30), the US Senate overwhelmingly passed a bill expanding the scope of COPPA to include teenagers under the age of 17, prohibiting targeted advertising to children and teenagers, and allowing parents and children to opt for the deletion of information on social media platforms.