US set to sue TikTok on alleged children’s privacy violations

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The US Department of Justice (DOJ) is gearing up to sue TikTok, focusing on the platform’s alleged infringements of children’s privacy. This consumer protection lawsuit follows an investigation by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Bloomberg reported, quoting anonymous sources.

The infringement of children’s privacy is one of the two claimed violations by TikTok the FTC referred to the DOJ. According to the report, the department will be dropping the other allegation: that TikTok hid the fact that the Beijing-based staff of parent firm ByteDance could see the personal and financial data of US users.

Instead, the DOJ will focus on claims that TikTok broke the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, a law that bans collecting data from children under 13.

The DOJ did not comment on its decision to drop one of its claims, Bloomberg noted.

TikTok has had past problems with the FTC. In 2019, the company paid US$5.7 million to settle the FTC’s charges of illegally gathering children’s personal data.

As part of the settlement, TikTok made a commitment to provide yearly reports on its data collection practices. These reports have contributed to the current planned lawsuit.

Amid its legal woes in the US, ByteDance recently brought in former Warner Bros. general counsel John Rogovin to serve in the same role. This role “will encompass oversight” of TikTok, the company previously said.

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