The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), with backing from the Department of Justice (DOJ), has initiated a lawsuit against TikTok and its parent company ByteDance, alleging violations of children’s privacy laws. The lawsuit accuses TikTok of breaching the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by failing to notify and secure parental consent before collecting data from users under the age of 13. Additionally, the complaint alleges that TikTok did not comply with a 2019 FTC consent order that addressed similar issues.
According to the FTC’s complaint, TikTok collected personal information from underage users without obtaining appropriate parental consent. This data was used to target advertisements and develop user profiles, contrary to COPPA regulations. The lawsuit contends that despite being aware of these violations, TikTok and ByteDance allowed children to access the platform by circumventing age restrictions. Furthermore, even when parents requested that their children’s accounts be deleted, TikTok allegedly made the process cumbersome and frequently failed to comply with these requests.
FTC Chair Lina M. Khan expressed concern that TikTok’s practices endangered the safety of millions of children and underscored the agency’s commitment to protecting children’s privacy. The DOJ highlighted the necessity of upholding parental rights to ensure children’s privacy is safeguarded.
The lawsuit seeks civil penalties against ByteDance and TikTok and demands a permanent injunction to prevent any future violations of COPPA. The case will be reviewed by the US District Court for the Central District of California.
