The U.S. Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against TikTok, accusing the social media platform of illegally collecting data from users under the age of 13 without parental consent. The lawsuit, filed on Friday (July 29), alleges that TikTok knowingly allowed children under 13 to create and use accounts and frequently failed to honor parents’ requests to delete their children’s accounts. The suit also names TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, as a defendant.
According to the government’s complaint, TikTok’s practices violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), a law that restricts the online tracking of children, and a 2019 agreement between TikTok and the government. Under the 2019 agreement, TikTok pledged to notify parents before collecting children’s data and remove videos from users under 13 years old.
The lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Southern California, seeks to fine TikTok and ByteDance for the alleged violations. The government is suing to “put an end to TikTok’s unlawful massive-scale invasions of children’s privacy,” according to the New York Times.
TikTok has disputed the allegations.
“We disagree with these allegations, many of which relate to past events and practices that are factually inaccurate or have been addressed,” said Alex Haurek, a spokesman for TikTok. The company insists it has made efforts to protect children and will continue to update and improve the platform.
The lawsuit is the latest in a series of legal challenges for TikTok, which has faced scrutiny over its data privacy practices and its ownership by a Chinese company. The case also marks a significant escalation in the U.S. government’s battle with the popular video-sharing app.
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