The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a lawsuit against the popular social media platform TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, alleging violations of children’s privacy laws.
The DOJ claims that TikTok has unlawfully allowed children under 13 to create accounts and share content without obtaining parental consent, thereby failing to protect minors’ personal information as mandated by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, asserts that TikTok has knowingly permitted underage users to access the platform without their parents’ knowledge or consent.
DOJ attorneys argued that the company collected extensive data from these children and did not comply with parents’ requests to delete their children’s accounts and personal information.
The complaint states:
“For years, Defendants have knowingly allowed children under 13 to create and use TikTok accounts without their parents’ knowledge or consent, have collected extensive data from those children, and have failed to comply with parents’ requests to delete their children’s accounts and personal information. … To put an end to TikTok’s unlawful massive-scale invasions of children’s privacy, the United States brings this lawsuit seeking injunctive relief, civil penalties, and other relief.”
The lawsuit follows a 2019 settlement with TikTok’s predecessor, Musical.ly, which required the platform to implement specific measures to ensure compliance with COPPA.
However, the DOJ alleges that TikTok continued to improperly collect and retain children’s data, even in its “Kids Mode,” and often failed to honor deletion requests from parents.
The legal action seeks to impose financial penalties and secure injunctive relief to address these privacy concerns, which DOJ officials describe as a significant threat to children’s safety on a widely used social media platform.
This lawsuit occurs in the broader context of heightened scrutiny of TikTok and ByteDance by U.S. authorities.
In April, President Joe Biden signed a bill designating apps operated by TikTok and ByteDance as “foreign adversary controlled applications.”
The act requires divestment from these apps within 270 days, with a possible 90-day extension.
In response, TikTok and ByteDance have sued the U.S. government, arguing that the act violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
