Department of Justice files lawsuit against TikTok, alleging 'massive violation of children's privacy'
The US Department of Justice announced that it has filed a civil lawsuit in the US District Court for the Central District of California against the short video sharing platform TikTok, alleging that it 'illegally collected data on millions of children.'
Office of Public Affairs | Justice Department Sues TikTok and Parent Company ByteDance for Widespread Violations of Children's Privacy Laws | United States Department of Justice
DOJ sues TikTok, alleging “massive-scale invasions of children's privacy” | Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/08/doj-sues-tiktok-alleging-massive-scale-invasions-of-childrens-privacy/
The lawsuit was referred to the Department of Justice by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in June 2024.
FTC announces it has referred complaint against TikTok to the Department of Justice for violating children's privacy - GIGAZINE
TikTok has an age restriction of 13 years or older , but the lawsuit alleges that from 2019 until the time of writing, TikTok knowingly allowed children under that age to create regular TikTok accounts and create, view, and share short videos and messages with others, including adults, on the platform.
The Justice Department also alleged that TikTok violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act and Regulations (COPPA) by creating and granting access to children's accounts without parents' knowledge or consent, collecting data from their children, and failing to comply with parents' requests to delete their children's accounts and information.
On the other hand, TikTok claims that it requires users to provide their date of birth when they create an account and that TikTok is not primarily intended for children to use. The Department of Justice points out that TikTok has not taken any steps to prevent children from using false birthdates.
If the suit is accepted, the Department of Justice could impose civil penalties of up to $51,744 for each violation assessed after January 10, 2024, exposing TikTok to huge fines.
'The Department of Justice is deeply concerned about TikTok's continued collection and retention of children's personal information,' said Acting Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer. 'Through these actions, we want to ensure that TikTok meets its obligations to protect children's privacy and respect parents' efforts to protect their children.'
'We disagree with these allegations, many of which are factually inaccurate or relate to past events or practices that we have already addressed,' TikTok said in a statement on X (formerly Twitter).
Our statement on today's lawsuit by the Department of Justice:
— TikTok Policy (@TikTokPolicy) August 2, 2024
'We disagree with these allegations, many of which relate to past events and practices that are factually inaccurate or have been addressed.
We are proud of our efforts to protect children, and we will continue to…
'We view this lawsuit as retaliation against TikTok and ByteDance, who have filed lawsuits to fight the TikTok ban, arguing that it is unconstitutional,' a TikTok spokesperson told Ars Technica.
TikTok sues over ban in the US - GIGAZINE
A TikTok spokesperson said, 'We are proud of our efforts to protect children and will continue to update and improve our platform. To that end, we have implemented rigorous safety measures to provide an age-appropriate experience, proactively remove users we suspect are underage, and voluntarily implemented features like default screen time limits, family pairing, and additional privacy protections for minors,' arguing that the Department of Justice's allegations are false.
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