The Justice Department filed a lawsuit against TikTok on Friday, accusing the popular social media platform of breaching federal children’s online privacy laws and failing to adhere to a previous settlement agreement with another federal agency.
The lawsuit, filed in a California federal court alongside the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), centres on allegations that TikTok, owned by the China-based company ByteDance, violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). This law mandates that apps and websites directed at children under 13 must obtain parental consent before collecting personal information.
Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, stated, “This action is necessary to prevent the defendants, who are repeat offenders and operate on a massive scale, from collecting and using young children’s private information without any parental consent or control.”
The legal action follows an investigation by the FTC, which scrutinized whether TikTok and its predecessor, Musical.ly, complied with a 2019 settlement. Musical.ly, acquired by ByteDance and merged with TikTok in 2017, had previously settled allegations of COPPA violations by agreeing to pay $5.7 million and comply with the law’s requirements. The government now claims that TikTok has not upheld these obligations.
The complaint alleges that TikTok allowed children to create accounts and retain personal information without parental notification, even in its “Kids Mode,” designed for users under 13.
It also accuses TikTok of sharing this data with other companies, such as Meta’s Facebook and the analytics firm AppsFlyer, to increase user engagement.
The lawsuit claims that TikTok permitted children to create accounts using third-party credentials, bypassing age verification and parental approval processes. These “age unknown” accounts are said to number in the millions.
Federal officials also allege that despite requests from parents to delete their children’s accounts, these requests were not honoured.
The alleged violations have resulted in many children under 13 using the standard TikTok app, which exposes them to interactions with adults and potentially adult content.
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
