U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Sues TikTok and ByteDance for Alleged Violations of Children’s Privacy Laws by Failing to Obtain Parental Consent
Fiona Nanna, ForeMedia News
6 minutes read. Updated 3:17PM GMT Sat, 4August , 2024
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has initiated a lawsuit against TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, accusing them of failing to safeguard the privacy of children on the popular social media platform. The lawsuit, filed on Friday, underscores mounting concerns over the protection of minors’ personal data in the digital age.
The DOJ’s lawsuit alleges that TikTok has breached the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), a federal law that mandates services directed at children under the age of 13 to secure parental consent before collecting personal information. The complaint claims that TikTok has allowed children to create and manage accounts on the platform, share videos and messages, and collect their personal information without parental authorization.
The legal action is part of a broader scrutiny of TikTok and ByteDance, driven by fears that the company may be improperly gathering extensive data on American users, potentially for the Chinese government, and manipulating content in ways that could pose risks to U.S. users.
In response to the lawsuit, TikTok expressed disagreement with the allegations, stating that many claims pertain to past practices that are either factually incorrect or have been rectified. The company emphasized its commitment to enhancing child safety on the platform and expressed disappointment that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is pursuing litigation rather than working collaboratively on a resolution.
The DOJ’s lawsuit, which includes participation from the FTC, seeks to address what it describes as TikTok’s “massive-scale invasions of children’s privacy.” The FTC has characterized TikTok’s actions as a repeated violation of privacy laws, endangering millions of children across the United States. The FTC has also sought penalties of up to $51,744 per violation per day, which could accumulate to substantial sums if TikTok is found liable.
The legal scrutiny of TikTok is not new; the FTC and DOJ began investigating the app’s adherence to privacy regulations following a 2019 agreement aimed at protecting children’s data. The platform, which has approximately 170 million users in the U.S., is also engaged in ongoing legal battles over a new law that could force ByteDance to divest TikTok’s U.S. assets by January 19 or face a potential ban.
In addition to U.S. legal challenges, TikTok has faced fines from the European Union and the United Kingdom over similar privacy concerns. Recently, the U.S. Senate passed a bill that aims to extend COPPA’s protections to teenagers up to age 17, prohibit targeted advertising to minors, and provide options for deleting personal information from social media platforms. This bill must now pass the Republican-controlled House, which is currently in recess until September, to become law.
For more details on the ongoing legal proceedings and potential impacts on user privacy, you can read the full article on Reuters.
