Why did US sue TikTok? App ’knowingly permitted children to…’

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), along with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), filed a civil lawsuit against TikTok Inc., ByteDance Ltd., and their affiliate companies.

The suit was filed against TikTok in a district court in California for violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) on Friday, August 2, according to an official statement from the US Department of Justice.

“The Justice Department, together with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), today filed a civil lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against TikTok Inc., ByteDance Ltd., and their affiliates (together, TikTok) for violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and its implementing regulations (COPPA) in connection with the popular TikTok app,” the official statement read.

Why was TikTok sued?

TikTok deliberately allowed children to open accounts on the social media video-sharing application, and also to create, view, and share short-form videos and messages with adults and others on the regular TikTok platform, as per the release.

“According to the complaint, from 2019 to the present, TikTok knowingly permitted children to create regular TikTok accounts and to create, view, and share short-form videos and messages with adults and others on the regular TikTok platform,” said the DOJ in the press statement.

The violations were aimed at the companies collecting data from children without any notification or approval from their parents. They collected data like email addresses and personal information.

“The defendants (TikTok and ByteDance) collected and retained a wide variety of personal information from these children without notifying or obtaining consent from their parents,” said the DOJ. “The defendants unlawfully collected and retained children’s email addresses and other types of personal information,” they said in the statement.

TikTok is one of the most popular social media applications in the world, and this violation of privacy laws has resulted in millions of children under the age of 13 years using to app being affected by the data collection practices, according to the statement.

“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,” said Brian M. Boynton, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General and Head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, in the statement.

“Even for accounts that were created in “Kids Mode” (a pared-back version of TikTok intended for children under 13), the defendants unlawfully collected and retained children’s email addresses and other types of personal information,” the statement added.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairperson Lina M. Khan also said that TikTok was “knowingly and repeatedly” violating kids’ privacy, which threatens the safety and security of millions of children across America. 

“The regulators will take full utilization of their power to protect the children as corporates are introducing more and more sophisticated digital tools to run surveillance on kids and profit from their data,” she said.

What is COPPA?

The United States Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) forbids companies and website operators to collect, use or disclose personal information from children who are under the age of 13 years, with the exception that they provide notice and ask and obtain consent from the child’s parents.

The law also mandates companies to delete personal information collected from the children, in case any parent requests it. In 2019, Musical.ly was sued by the US government over COPPA violations, it was the predecessor of TikTok and mandated them to undergo specific measures to comply with the COPPA Act.