The Department of Justice on Friday sued TikTok and its parent company ByteDance, alleging the Chinese-owned video-sharing platform breached U.S. child privacy laws by allowing millions of children to create accounts without parental consent and unlawfully collecting their personal information.
TikTok has violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), according to the Friday lawsuit, by "knowingly" letting millions of American children under 13 create accounts without parental consent or knowledge, illegally collecting "extensive personal information" from the children, and failing to comply with parents’ requests to delete their children’s accounts.
The lawsuit comes amid a months-long legal battle over a bipartisan law passed by Congress and signed in April by President Joe Biden that would force ByteDance to sell TikTok to a non-Chinese buyer by next year or face a total ban in the United States. Lawmakers grilled TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew in late January over his company’s alleged ties to the Chinese Communist Party, after both Biden and former president Donald Trump voiced national security concerns.
"[The DOJ is] deeply concerned that TikTok has continued to collect and retain children’s personal information despite a court order barring such conduct," acting associate attorney general Benjamin Mizer said Friday in a statement, referring to a 2019 settlement with the Federal Trade Commission that requires TikTok to take specific measures to comply with COPPA.
Even TikTok’s "Kids Mode," a version for users younger than 13, saved email addresses and other personal information on its database, the prosecutors noted.
"With [Friday’s lawsuit], the Department seeks to ensure that TikTok honors its obligation to protect children’s privacy rights and parents’ efforts to protect their children," Mizer added.
TikTok, meanwhile, has pushed back on the Friday allegations. "We disagree with these allegations, many of which relate to past events and practices that are factually inaccurate or have been addressed," TikTok spokesman Michael Hughes said in a statement. "We are proud of our efforts to protect children, and we will continue to update and improve the platform."