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The US Justice Department has filed suit against TikTok, claiming the app and its parent company ByteDance are violating children’s privacy laws.
The 31-page lawsuit is the latest development in the ongoing saga surrounding TikTok’s future in the US, where the app has 170 million users.
The DOJ filed the civil action alongside the Federal Trade Commission in the US District Court for the Central District of California on Friday.
TikTok is accused of permitting children to create accounts on its platform and collecting personal information from the children without notifying their parents. It violates federal law that prohibits website operators from collecting personal information from children under 13.
TikTok has known of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, the law it is accused of violating, since at least 2017, the suit states.
The app does have a children’s version called “Kids Mode”, but investigators claim the app unlawfully collected and retained data from children who used the model as well.
Additionally, the Justice Department found instances of parents asking TikTok to delete their children’s accounts but said the company failed to do so.
The app does require new users to create accounts by reporting their birthdate. However, investigators claim that children can bypass the “age gate” by creating accounts on Google and Instagram. TikTok internally referred to the accounts as “age unknown”.
In an emailed statement to The Independent, a TikTok spokesperson said: “We disagree with these allegations, many of which relate to past events and practices that are factually inaccurate or have been addressed.”
The app currently offers age-appropriate experiences with “stringent safeguards”, removes suspected underage users and has launched features like screen time limits, in addition to installing other privacy measures for minors, the spokesperson added.
In 2019, Musical.ly, a music app that later became TikTok, was ordered to pay a $5.7m civil penalty after it had violated the same law. Musical.ly was ordered to destroy information of users under the age of 13 and remove accounts of users whose age could not be identified.
At the time of the alleged TikTok violations, the app and ByteDance were under a court order barring them from violating federal law.
“The Department 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 C Mizer said. “With this action, the Department seeks to ensure that TikTok honors its obligation to protect children’s privacy rights and parents’ effort to protect their children.”
The federal government has spent years trying to ban TikTok in the US. In April, President Joe Biden signed a bill that could make that a reality if the Chinese-owned app is not sold within a year. National security officials have raised concerns that the app could be influenced by the Chinese government.
Earlier this year, Axios reported that China’s government had used the app to influence US elections.
