The United States Department of Justice lodged a lawsuit against TikTok, alleging the social media platform violated children’s online privacy laws and breached a previous settlement with a federal agency. Filed in a California federal court alongside the Federal Trade Commission, the complaint is part of an ongoing legal dispute between the U.S. government and TikTok regarding the platform’s operations in the country.
The lawsuit contends that TikTok, renowned among young users, along with its parent company ByteDance based in China, violated a federal law mandating parental consent for the collection of personal data from children under 13 on apps and websites tailored for kids. Despite the allegations, TikTok did not provide an immediate response to the lawsuit.
Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, emphasized the necessity of the action to prevent the defendants from unlawfully collecting and utilizing private information of young children without parental consent or oversight, citing that the companies are deemed repeat offenders operating on a massive scale.
The decision to file the lawsuit followed an investigation by the FTC, examining whether the companies complied with a prior settlement related to TikTok’s precursor, Musical.ly. In 2019, Musical.ly was sued by the federal government for allegedly breaching the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by failing to inform parents about the collection and use of personal information of children under 13.
Following the lawsuit, Musical.ly, which was later acquired by ByteDance and merged with TikTok, agreed to pay $5.7 million to resolve the allegations and adhere to COPPA compliance under a court order, which the government asserts has not been met. The complaint alleges that TikTok permitted children to create accounts and retained their personal details without parental notification, including in “Kids Mode,” specifically designed for children under 13.
The lawsuit accuses TikTok of collecting information such as user activities and identifiers to create user profiles, and sharing this data with other entities like Meta’s Facebook and an analytics company called AppsFlyer to encourage engagement from “Kids Mode” users through a practice termed “re-targeting less active users.” TikTok is further accused of enabling children to create accounts without providing age verification or parental consent by utilizing third-party service credentials, resulting in a significant number of “age unknown” accounts.
The Justice Department disclosed that federal officials alleged TikTok disregarded parents’ requests to delete their children’s accounts, leading to millions of children under 13 accessing the regular TikTok app, allowing them to interact with adults and view mature content. While previous reports suggested the FTC’s investigation delved into TikTok’s potential violation of laws barring unfair and deceptive business practices, these specific allegations are not part of the current lawsuit, which seeks civil penalties and injunctive relief.