August 03, 2024 – On Friday local time, the U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit against TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, alleging failures to protect children’s privacy on the social media platform, according to Bloomberg. The U.S. government claimed that TikTok violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which requires parental consent before collecting personal information from users under the age of 13.
The lawsuit, backed by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), aims to put an end to TikTok’s “illegal and widespread violations of children’s privacy.”
The Justice Department alleged that TikTok allowed millions of children under 13 to create accounts and collect data without parental knowledge or consent, even after reaching a settlement agreement with the FTC in 2019 regarding children’s privacy.
Furthermore, TikTok and ByteDance were accused of ignoring requests from parents to delete their children’s accounts. Despite knowing that certain accounts were being used by children under 13, no action was taken.
TikTok responded to these allegations on Friday, stating that many of the charges related to past incidents were either inaccurate or had already been resolved. “We are proud of our efforts to protect children and will continue to update and improve our platform,” TikTok said, noting that they proactively delete accounts of underage children and provide features such as screen time limits and family pairing to protect minors.
It should be noted that TikTok users aged 13 to 17 can extend their usage time by entering their own password every half hour, while users under 13 must have a password provided by a parent or guardian to continue using the app.
Lina Khan, Chairman of the FTC, stated, “TikTok knowingly and repeatedly violates children’s privacy, threatening the safety of millions of children across the country.” The FTC referred the case to the Justice Department in June and is seeking fines of up to $51,744 per violation per day, which could theoretically amount to billions of dollars if TikTok is found guilty.
