The well-known communication app TikTok has been sued by the US Ministry of Justice for suspected violations of kid privacy laws. The US Department of Justice is not new to legal disputes with the US government.
The Justice Department (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) assert that TikTok engaged in “widespread violations of children’s privacy laws,” such as the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) as well as its implementing rules. CNN reports that the FTC already penalized the social media app in the year 2019 for gathering child data.
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According to the Justice Department, TikTok has persisted in breaking the law since 2019, when the FTC punished the firm and its former parent, Musical.ly, for COPPA violations.
Since late 2017, when the Chinese parent firm ByteDance bought Musical.ly, it has become the owner of the social media app. President Biden signed a bill into law this spring mandating that the social media app removes its ByteDance content by the beginning of next year, failing which the app will be outlawed nationwide.
“The DOJ explains that TikTok knowingly allowed children to establish normal accounts on TikTok and to produce, view, and distribute short-form videos as well as messages with adults as well as others on the standard TikTok platform from 2019 to the current, as stated in the complaint.” The parents of these youngsters were not informed or granted consent before the defendants gathered and kept a wide range of personal information about them. The defendants improperly gathered and kept children’s email addresses along with other personal information, even for identities that were made in “Kids Mode,” a scaled-down version of TikTok meant for users under the age of thirteen.
Additionally, according to the Justice Department, TikTok often disregarded parental requests to have their children’s accounts erased, including their personal information. It is also alleged that TikTok lacked adequate internal policies and procedures to recognize and remove accounts made by minors who were not old enough to use the app.
The federal government asserts that “millions” of children below the age limit of 13 used the basic version of TikTok, exposing them to “extensive” data collecting, adult content, and interactions with adults because of TikTok’s persistent noncompliance with COPPA.
Because of TikTok’s steadfast noncompliance with COPPA, the federal government claims that “millions” of kids under the age of 13 utilized the simplest version of the app, subjecting themselves to “extensive” data harvesting, adult content, as well as interactions with adults.
Brian M. Boynton, principal deputy assistant general attorney, describes the defendants as “repeat offenders” who operate on a “massive scale” and labels the DOJ’s measures as “necessary.”
FTC Chair Lina M. Khan continues, “TikTok intentionally and persistently violated children’s privacy, endangering the security of countless of children throughout the nation.” “The FTC is going to keep using its entire authority to protect children online, particularly as businesses use more advanced digital tools to monitor child privacy violations and make money off of their data.”
The DOJ claimed earlier this week that TikTok was gathering information on American users’ opinions on religion, gun control, and abortion.
Statement from Michael Hughes, a representative for TikTok, was posted on X, previously known as Twitter. “We disagree with these assertions, many of which pertain to past events and processes that are demonstrably incorrect or have been addressed,” Hughes adds. “We take pride in the work we do to safeguard youngsters, and we’ll keep the platform updated and enhanced. In order to do this, we proactively remove users who may be underage, provide age-appropriate experiences with strong security measures, and have voluntarily introduced features like Family Pairing, default screen time limitations, and extra privacy protections for children.
Injunctive relief and civil fines are sought in the complaint. A potential fine of up to $51,744 is mentioned in the full action, which was filed today in the US Federal Court for the middle district of California. Every time a child’s information is gathered, used, or disclosed, as well as every day the data is being collected, is a distinct offence.
The action seeks civil penalties for each COPPA breach, a long-term order to stop future violations, and any other remedy deemed “just and proper.”
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