FILE - The icon for the video sharing TikTok app is seen on a smartphone, Feb. 28, 2023, in Marple Township, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)
Whew! Roommates, the U.S. seems to have a never-ending beef with THIS social media platform. On Friday (August 2), the Justice Department (DOJ) took a swing at TikTok by filing a lawsuit accusing the company of violating children’s online privacy law.
Additionally, the DOJ alleges TikTok of violating a settlement it had reached with another federal agency. The agency teamed up with the Federal Trade Commission in California to file the complaint in federal court.
As mentioned, the U.S. and the popular video-based platform are involved in yet another legal battle that will determine whether—or how—TikTok will continue to operate in the country.
The latest lawsuit focuses on allegations that TikTok and its China-based parent company ByteDance violated a federal law that requires kid-oriented apps and websites to get parental consent before collecting personal information of children under 13.
“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,” Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, said in a statement.
The U.S. decided to file the lawsuit following an investigation by the FTC. The agency looked into whether the companies were complying with a previous settlement involving TikTok’s predecessor, Musical.ly. In 2019, the federal government sued Musical.ly, alleging it violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA. It had failed to notify parents about its collection and use of personal information for kids under 13.
That same year, Musical.ly agreed to pay $5.7 million to resolve those allegations. ByteDance acquired the app in 2017 and merged with TikTok. The two companies were also subject to a court order requiring them to comply with COPPA, but the government says that hasn’t happened.
In the complaint, the DOJ and the FTC allege TikTok has knowingly allowed children to create accounts and retained their personal information without alerting their parents. This practice extends to accounts created in “Kids Mode,” a version of TikTok for children under 13.
The two agencies allege the information collected included app activities and other identifiers used to build user profiles. They also accuse TikTok of sharing the data with other companies, such as Meta’s Facebook and an analytics company called AppsFlyer. Apparently, the shared information was meant to persuade “Kids Mode” users to stay on the platform more. TikTok has previously called the practice “re-targeting less active users.”
The complaint says TikTok also allowed children to create accounts without having to provide their age or obtain parental approval by using credentials from third-party services. It classified these as “age unknown” accounts. Agencies say those accounts have grown into millions.
Additionally, federal officials say TikTok did not honor parental requests for the platform to delete kids’ accounts.
In a press release explaining the lawsuit, Justice said the alleged violations have resulted in millions of children under 13 using the regular TikTok app. This means there’s an opportunity for minors to interact with adults and access adult content.
The DOJ wants civil penalties and injunctive relief. Meanwhile, TikTok did not immediately respond to an AP request for comment.
Associated Press business writer HALELUYA HADERO contributed to this report.
