Current:Home > ScamsTikTok sued by Justice Department over alleged child privacy violations impacting millions-LoTradeCoin
TikTok sued by Justice Department over alleged child privacy violations impacting millions
View Date:2024-12-23 20:34:53
The U.S. government accused popular social media app TikTok in a Friday lawsuit of committing privacy violations that left millions of children vulnerable to data collection and adult content.
“TikTok knowingly and repeatedly violated kids’ privacy, threatening the safety of millions of children across the country,” said Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina M. Khan in a press release accompanying the lawsuit. The commission investigated the issue and then referred it to the Justice Department to bring a lawsuit.
The accusations against TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, center on the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which prohibits websites from knowingly collecting or using personal information from children under 13 without parental consent. TikTok and ByteDance violated the law and related regulations by actively avoiding deleting accounts of users they knew were children, according to the legal complaint.
"Instead, Defendants continue collecting these children’s personal information, showing them videos not intended for children, serving them ads and generating revenue from such ads, and allowing adults to directly communicate with them through TikTok," the government said.
"We disagree with these allegations, many of which relate to past events and practices that are factually inaccurate or have been addressed," TikTok spokesperson Alex Haurek told USA TODAY.
Haurek said the company is proud of its efforts to protect children and will continue improving the platform.
"To that end, 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," according to the statement.
The government is seeking civil penalties and a court order preventing future violations of the child privacy law. It didn't specify the total financial amount it wants, but cited a law allowing up a penalty of up to $51,744 for individual violations that have occurred since Jan. 10, 2024.
Tensions mount between TikTok and US officials
The lawsuit is just the latest headache for the short-form video social media app.
In April, President Joe Biden signed a law requiring ByteDance to divest TikTok's US assets by January or face a TikTok ban in the US. The government says TikTok's China-based ownership structure could help the Chinese government gather sensitive information on 170 million Americans who use the app, endangering national security interests. TikTok has sued, alleging the law violates free speech protections.
The accusations of child privacy violations aren't new.
An earlier version of TikTok, titled Musical.ly until it was renamed in 2019, was ordered to pay a $5.7 million civil penalty in May of that year and destroy personal information for children under 13, remove accounts for users with an unidentified age, and maintain records tied to complying with child privacy rules.
Nonetheless, TikTok and ByteDance have failed to delete child accounts and information that their own employees and systems identified, according to the new lawsuit.
The violations have occurred "on a massive scale," resulting in years of personal information collection on millions of American children under 13, the government said.
veryGood! (1415)
Related
- Dwayne Johnson Admits to Peeing in Bottles on Set After Behavior Controversy
- Sister Wives' Kody Brown Calls Ex Janelle Brown a Relationship Coward Amid Split
- Bath & Body Works candle removed from stores when some say it looks like KKK hood
- Trump’s campaign crowdfunded millions online in an untraditional approach to emergency relief
- John Krasinski named People's Sexiest Man Alive for 2024
- Tia Mowry Shares How She Repurposed Wedding Ring From Ex Cory Hardrict
- Cowboys stuck in a house of horrors with latest home blowout loss to Lions
- Historic Jersey Shore amusement park closes after generations of family thrills
- A pregnant woman sues for the right to an abortion in challenge to Kentucky’s near-total ban
- Oregon's defeat of Ohio State headlines college football Week 7 winners and losers
Ranking
- US wholesale inflation picks up slightly in sign that some price pressures remain elevated
- Will Freddie Freeman play in NLCS Game 2? Latest injury updates on Dodgers first baseman
- Operator dies and more than a dozen passengers hurt as New Jersey commuter train hits tree
- Quentin Tarantino's 'Pulp' players: A guide to the actors who make his 'Fiction' iconic
- Advocacy group sues Tennessee over racial requirements for medical boards
- SpaceX launches Starship the 5th time; successfully catches booster in huge mechanic arm
- Flash Sale Alert: Save 44% on Apple iPad Bundle—Shop Now Before It’s Gone!
- 'Saturday Night Live' brilliantly spoofs UFC promos with Ariana Grande as Celine Dion
Recommendation
-
Democrat George Whitesides wins election to US House, beating incumbent Mike Garcia
-
What TV channel is Bengals vs. Giants game on? Sunday Night Football start time, live stream
-
ManningCast schedule: Will there be a 'Monday Night Football' ManningCast in Week 6?
-
Cardi B Reveals What Her Old Stripper Name Used to Be
-
Target will be closed on Thanksgiving: Here’s when stores open on Black Friday
-
Climate Disasters Only Slightly Shift the Political Needle
-
Wisconsin closing some public parking lots that have become camps for homeless
-
Marvin Harrison Jr. injury update: Cardinals WR exits game with concussion vs. Packers