U.S. Justice Department Sues TikTok and ByteDance Over Children’s Privacy Violations

The U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit on Friday against TikTok and its parent company ByteDance, alleging failure to protect children’s privacy on the popular social media platform. This move is part of the Biden administration’s ongoing crackdown on the app.

The lawsuit claims TikTok violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which mandates that services aimed at children obtain parental consent before collecting personal information from users under the age of 13.

TikTok, a Chinese-owned short-video platform with around 170 million U.S. users, is already under scrutiny, facing a new law that requires ByteDance to divest TikTok’s U.S. assets by January 19 or face a ban.

The Justice Department’s action, joined by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), aims to halt “TikTok’s unlawful massive-scale invasions of children’s privacy.”

“Representative Frank Pallone, the top Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Committee, emphasized the necessity of divesting TikTok from Chinese Communist Party control. “We simply cannot continue to allow our adversaries to harvest vast troves of Americans’ sensitive data,” he said.

TikTok responded on Friday, disagreeing with the allegations. “Many of these allegations 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 company stated.

The lawsuit alleges that TikTok knowingly allowed children to create regular accounts, enabling them to share videos and messages with adults and others without obtaining parental consent. The U.S. government claims that for years, millions of American children under 13 have used TikTok, which has been collecting and retaining their personal information.

“TikTok knowingly and repeatedly violated kids’ privacy, threatening the safety of millions of children across the country,” said FTC Chair Lina Khan. The FTC referred the case to the Justice Department in June.

The FTC seeks penalties of up to $51,744 per violation per day from TikTok for improperly collecting data, which could potentially total billions of dollars if TikTok is found liable.

Reuters first reported in 2020 that the FTC and Justice Department were investigating allegations that TikTok failed to comply with a 2019 agreement aimed at protecting children’s privacy. Last year, the company faced fines from the European Union and the U.K. over its handling of children’s data.

In a related development, the U.S. Senate passed a bill on Tuesday to extend COPPA protections to cover teenagers up to age 17, ban targeted advertising to kids and teens, and give parents and children the option to delete their information from social media platforms. The bill must still pass in the Republican-controlled House, currently in recess until September, to become law.