The US Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against TikTok, claiming the popular short-video platform has been illegally collecting data on millions of children. The suit demands a permanent injunction to put an end to the alleged privacy invasions.
The DOJ asserts that TikTok has violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA) by allowing children to create accounts without parental consent, collecting data from those accounts, and failing to honor deletion requests from parents. According to the DOJ, TikTok’s age-gating measures are easily circumvented, enabling underage users to access the platform by providing fake birthdates.
The complaint highlights internal analyses by TikTok, which reportedly show that millions of the app’s US users are children under 13. The DOJ further noted that the number of US users classified by the app as being aged 14 or younger in 2020 was significantly higher than the Census Bureau’s estimates for 13- and 14-year-olds, suggesting many users were younger than they claimed to be.
The DOJ is seeking substantial fines, with the possibility of civil penalties amounting to $51,744 for each violation occurring after January 10, 2024. According to the complaint, any recent violations could lead to even larger financial repercussions for the company.
TikTok has already indicated its plans to contest the lawsuit. A spokesperson stated that the company disagrees with the DOJ’s allegations and claims many of them pertain to past practices that have already been addressed. TikTok asserts it has made considerable efforts to safeguard children on its platform, offering features like default screen time limits and additional privacy protections for minors.
The lawsuit emerges amidst an ongoing conflict between TikTok and the US government, which previously passed a bill that could lead to a nationwide ban of the app. This comes amid concerns over data collection practices and alleged spying on American users by its China-based parent company, ByteDance (Ars Technica).