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The government alleges that TikTok violated the Children’s
Online Privacy Protection Act, which mandates that services targeting children
must obtain parental consent before collecting personal information from users
under the age of 13.
This lawsuit represents the latest action taken by the
United States against TikTok and its Chinese parent company due to concerns
that the company may be improperly collecting substantial amounts of data on
American citizens for the Chinese government, while simultaneously manipulating
content in a manner that could potentially harm Americans.
The lawsuit, whichh was also joined by the Federal Trade
Commission, aims to put an end to “TikTok’s unlawful large-scale invasions of
children’s privacy.”
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has stated that TikTok
intentionally allowed children to establish standard TikTok accounts, enabling
them to create and disseminate short videos and messages to adults and other
users on the platform.
Furthermore, TikTok collected personal data from these
minors without securing parental consent.
The U.S. government claims that for several years, millions
of American children under the age of 13 have been utilizing TikTok, during
which time the platform has been gathering and storing their personal
information.
FTC Chair Lina Khan remarked, "TikTok knowingly and
repeatedly violated kids' privacy, threatening the safety of millions of
children across the country," following the Federal Trade Commission's
referral of the case to the Justice Department in June. The FTC is pursuing
fines of up to $51,744 for each violation per day against TikTok for its
improper data collection practices.
Although TikTok has not provided an immediate response, the
company expressed disappointment in June regarding the FTC's decision to pursue
litigation rather than collaborating on a reasonable resolution. In 2020,
Reuters first reported that the FTC and DOJ were investigating claims that the
widely-used social media application failed to adhere to a 2019 agreement
designed to safeguard children's privacy.
The Chinese-owned short-video platform claims approximately
170 million users in the U.S. and is currently contesting a new law that would
require ByteDance to divest TikTok's U.S. assets by January 19 or face a ban.
Last year, the company incurred fines from both the European Union and the
United Kingdom concerning its management of children's data.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate approved a bill aimed at
extending the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) to include
teenagers up to the age of 17, prohibiting targeted advertising directed at
children and teenagers, and providing parents and minors the option to delete
their information from social media platforms.
For the bill to become law, it must also pass in the
Republican-controlled House, which is currently in recess until September.