TikTok Violated Children's Privacy, Feds Allege In CA Lawsuit

CALIFORNIA — Federal authorities recently sued TikTok over allegations that the social media company committed widespread and illegal privacy violations affecting millions of children.

The U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission filed the lawsuit Aug. 2 in the Central District of California, alleging violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. The law bans website operators from knowingly collecting, using or disclosing personal information from children under 13 without parental consent.

“TikTok knowingly and repeatedly violated kids’ privacy, threatening the safety of millions of children across the country,” Commission Chair Lina Khan said in a news release.

The company allowed children to create regular accounts and make, view, and share videos and messages with adults, according to authorities, who said TikTok also collected users' personal information without parental consent. Even in the case of “Kids Mode” accounts, the company illegally collected children’s information, authorities said.

TikTok often failed to honor requests from parents to delete children’s accounts and had deficient internal processes for finding accounts created by children, according to authorities.

In 2019, the government sued TikTok’s predecessor, Musical.ly, for similar violations, and the company has since been subject to a court order requiring it to undertake specific compliance measures, authorities said.

TikTok said it disagreed with the allegations, "many of which relate to past events and practices that are factually inaccurate or have been addressed.”

"We offer age-appropriate experiences with stringent safeguards, proactively remove suspected underage users and have voluntarily launched features such as default screentime limits, Family Pairing, and additional privacy protections for minors," the company said in a statement.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.