Justice Department To Prioritize Children's Privacy Violation In TikTok Lawsuit, Drops Claim Chinese Platform Misled US Customers

The U.S. Department of Justice has reportedly decided to drop one of the two proposed claims against ByteDance-owned TikTok, focusing instead on a consumer protection lawsuit centered on children’s privacy.

What Happened: The DOJ is preparing to file a consumer protection lawsuit against TikTok later this year, focusing on children’s privacy. This decision comes after the Federal Trade Commission investigated the case and referred it to the DOJ, reported Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter.

The DOJ will drop the part of the complaint alleging that TikTok deceived U.S. consumers by failing to inform them that employees of its parent company based in Beijing, would have access to their personal and financial information.

The department will proceed with allegations that the company violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which prohibits the collection of data about children under the age of 13.

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The DOJ’s Consumer Protection Branch has 45 days from when the FTC makes a referral to decide whether it wishes to litigate or send the case back to the FTC.

In 2019, TikTok paid $5.7 million to settle similar FTC allegations of illegally collecting personal information from children. As part of the settlement, the company agreed to provide annual reports to the agency regarding its data collection and compliance. These reports contributed to the current case, the report noted.

Why It Matters: This decision by the DOJ comes amid an ongoing legal battle between TikTok and the U.S. government. President Joe Biden signed a bill into law in late April that would force a sale of TikTok by ByteDance, if not completely ban it. The company is currently contesting this law in the courts.

The platform has argued that the U.S. could have considered alternatives to banning the app to address national security concerns.

Earlier this month, ByteDance appointed a new global general counsel, John Rogovin, who previously served as the top lawyer at Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. and held positions at the U.S. Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department.

Photo by XanderSt on Shutterstock

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.