TikTok Faces Lawsuit Over Alleged Violations of Children's Privacy

The U.S. Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission have filed a lawsuit against TikTok, accusing the popular video-sharing platform and its parent company ByteDance of violating federal laws protecting children's online privacy. The complaint alleges that TikTok has failed to obtain parental consent before collecting personal information from children under 13, and has not honored requests from parents to delete their children's accounts.

Safeguarding the Digital Futures of Our Youth

Allegations of Repeated Violations

The lawsuit alleges that TikTok and ByteDance are "repeat offenders" who have failed to comply with a previous settlement reached with the federal government. In 2019, the companies agreed to pay a .7 million fine to resolve allegations that TikTok's predecessor, Musical.ly, had violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by collecting personal information from children without parental consent.The current complaint claims that TikTok has continued to allow children to create accounts and retain their personal information without notifying their parents. This practice extends to the platform's "Kids Mode," which the government says still collects data on users, including their activities and identifiers used to build user profiles.

Failure to Protect and Respond

The lawsuit also accuses TikTok of failing to honor requests from parents to delete their children's accounts, and of using tactics to keep young users engaged on the platform, such as "re-targeting less active users." The government alleges that TikTok has employed deficient policies that have allowed millions of children's accounts to proliferate on the app, and that the company's human moderators have spent an average of only five to seven seconds reviewing accounts flagged as potentially belonging to a child.

Widespread Implications and Ongoing Concerns

The alleged violations have resulted in millions of children under 13 using the regular TikTok app, exposing them to adult content and interactions. This lawsuit is the latest in a series of legal battles between the U.S. government and social media companies over the handling of children's data and the potential harms to young users.Other major tech firms, such as Google, YouTube, and Meta (the parent company of Facebook and Instagram), have also faced scrutiny and legal action for similar issues related to children's online privacy and well-being. The ongoing efforts to hold these companies accountable reflect the growing concern over the impact of social media on the digital futures of young people.