TikTok and its parent company ByteDance are facing a lawsuit filed by the United States Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission for failing to protect the privacy of children on the social networking app.
TikTok violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which requires services aimed at children to obtain parental consent to collect personal information from users under the age of 13, according to the government.
TikTok knowingly and repeatedly violated kids’ privacy, threatening the safety of millions of children across the country, said FTC Chair Lina Khan, whose agency in June referred the case to the Justice Department.
The Justice Department said that TikTok intentionally allowed children to create regular TikTok accounts and then create and share short videos and messages with adults and others on the regular TikTok platform, noting that the platform collected those children’s personal information without obtaining consent from their parents, Reuters said.
The Federal Trade Commission is demanding that TikTok pay fines of up to $51,744 per violation per day for improper data collection, which could theoretically amount to billions of dollars if TikTok is found liable. In the meantime, The Commission and the Justice Department earlier said they were investigating allegations the popular social media app failed to comply with a 2019 agreement aimed at protecting children’s privacy.
TikTok disagrees “with these allegations, many of which relate to past events and practices that are factually inaccurate or have been addressed. We are proud of our efforts to protect children, and we will continue to update and improve the platform.
The lawsuit is the latest US action against TikTok and its Chinese parent company over concerns that the company is improperly collecting vast amounts of data on Americans for the Chinese government while influencing content in ways that could harm US citizens.
The Chinese short video platform has around 170 million users in the US and is currently fighting a new law that would force ByteDance to sell off TikTok’s US assets by 19 January or face a ban. Last year, the company faced fines from the European Union and the United Kingdom for processing children’s data.
