The Justice Department, in conjunction with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), has sued TikTok, alleging that the company violated children’s online privacy laws and failed to comply with a previous settlement agreement.
The lawsuit, filed in California federal court, contends that TikTok and its parent company ByteDance collected personal information from children under 13 without obtaining the necessary parental consent, as mandated by federal law.
This legal action marks another chapter in the ongoing legal disputes between the U.S. government and the popular social media platform, which could significantly impact TikTok’s operations in the country.
The allegations stem from an investigation by the FTC into whether TikTok adhered to a prior settlement involving its predecessor, Musical.ly. In 2019, Musical.ly, acquired by ByteDance in 2017 and later merged with TikTok, faced a federal lawsuit for violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
The company settled the case by agreeing to pay $5.7 million and committing to comply with COPPA. However, the FTC’s investigation suggested that TikTok had not upheld these terms, prompting the current lawsuit.
TikTok Faces Federal Lawsuit Over Alleged Children’s Privacy Violations
The complaint details how TikTok purportedly allowed children to create accounts and retain their personal information without parental notification. This practice reportedly extended to “Kids Mode,” a version of TikTok for users under 13.
The collected data included user activities and other identifiers used to create profiles, which were allegedly shared with other companies like Meta’s Facebook and AppsFlyer to target less active users. These actions were part of what the complaint describes as efforts to increase engagement on the platform.
Federal officials also allege that TikTok permitted children to create accounts using third-party credentials without verifying their age or obtaining parental consent. These “age unknown” accounts have reportedly grown to millions.
Furthermore, when parents requested the deletion of their children’s accounts, TikTok allegedly failed to honor these requests. This has resulted in millions of children under 13 using the regular TikTok app, exposing them to interactions with adults and potentially adult content.
Additionally, the FTC’s investigation considered whether TikTok violated federal laws prohibiting “unfair and deceptive” business practices by denying that individuals in China had access to U.S. user data, although these allegations were not included in the current complaint.
The Justice Department and FTC are seeking civil penalties and injunctive relief against TikTok to address these alleged violations and prevent further unauthorized collection and use of children’s personal information.
