The United States filed a civil lawsuit against TikTok and its parent company on Friday, arguing the entities violated a federal law aimed at protecting the privacy and safety of children online.
The Justice Department filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California together with the Federal Trade Commission, setting up a legal clash between the Biden administration and the popular social media platform, which has also come under sharp scrutiny from lawmakers in Congress.
The lawsuit accuses TikTok and other entities of violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and a federal regulation by creating accounts for kids and bringing in data from them “without first notifying their parents and obtaining verifiable parental consent.”
