The United States filed a lawsuit against TikTok on Friday, accusing the platform of endangering the safety of millions of children by collecting their personal data without parental consent. This legal action is part of a broader conflict involving TikTok, which faces a potential nationwide ban unless its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, sells the app.
The Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) brought the civil suit, alleging that TikTok violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). FTC Chair Lina Khan stated, “TikTok knowingly and repeatedly violated kids’ privacy, threatening the safety of millions of children across the country.”
COPPA prohibits the collection of personal information from children under 13 without parental permission. The lawsuit claims that TikTok has permitted children to use the app since 2019, collecting personal data without notifying their parents. The suit also argues that even accounts created under a “Kids Mode” designed for users under 13 gathered personal information like email addresses.
According to Justice Department officials, TikTok and ByteDance often failed to comply with requests from parents to delete their children’s accounts and had inadequate policies for identifying and removing accounts created by minors.
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TikTok spokesman Alexander Haurek responded, asserting that the company has implemented safeguards to ensure age-appropriate experiences and removes accounts suspected of being from underage users. He stated, “We disagree with these allegations, many of which relate to past events and practices that are factually inaccurate or have been addressed.”
The lawsuit follows a similar COPPA-focused case five years ago involving Musical.ly, which ByteDance acquired and merged into TikTok. That case led to TikTok taking steps to comply with children’s privacy regulations.
In addition to this lawsuit, a recent law signed by President Joe Biden requires TikTok to find a non-Chinese buyer by January 2025 or face a US ban. This law reflects concerns that ByteDance might comply with Chinese government demands for US user data or censor content on the platform. The Justice Department describes TikTok, which has 170 million US users, as a “national-security threat of immense depth and scale.”
TikTok has challenged the law in a Washington federal court, arguing that it infringes on First Amendment rights. The US response asserts that the law addresses national security, not free speech, and that ByteDance, based in China, cannot claim First Amendment protections in the US.
ByteDance has indicated it has no plans to sell TikTok, suggesting that the case may eventually reach the US Supreme Court as its primary option to avoid a ban.
