ByteDance‘s TikTok, one of the most used social media platforms by teens, is the subject of the latest U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuit.
What Happened: The DOJ and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed the lawsuit on Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
The lawsuit accuses TikTok repeatedly violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which prohibits websites from collecting or using personal information from children under 13 without parental consent.
Benzinga reached out to ByteDance for comment on the lawsuit before publication.
The DOJ stated that TikTok knowingly allowed children to create accounts on the platform and message with adults. TikTok also collected information from these users without notifying their parents. The lawsuit claims that TikTok collected personal information from users in “Kids Mode,” a version intended for younger users.
Finally, regulators allege the Beijing, China-based social media giant had inadequate policies to identify children’s accounts.
"The Justice Department is committed to upholding parents' ability to protect their children's privacy," Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton said in a 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."
"TikTok knowingly and repeatedly violated kids' privacy, threatening the safety of millions of children across the country," FTC Chair Lina Khan said. "The FTC will continue to use the full scope of its authorities to protect children online — especially as firms deploy increasingly sophisticated digital tools to surveil kids and profit from their data."
The lawsuit comes a month after a letter from Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Reps. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) and Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) urging the DOJ to act on COPPA grounds.
Why it Matters: The lawsuit is not TikTok’s sole legal challenge.
In April, legislators passed a bill compelling ByteDance to sell off its U.S. operations within 12 months or face a U.S. ban. Lawmakers were principally concerned with national security (given ByteDance’s status as a Chinese company) and its effect on children.
Meta Platforms Inc META — a competitor of ByteDance — stands to benefit from legal action pursued against ByteDance. Meta faces its own legal challenges on the matter of child protection — 33 state attorneys general filed a lawsuit against the company in 2023.
Price Action: ByteDance is a private company. Meta traded at $485.66, down 2.53% at the time of publication Friday.
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