The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a bombshell lawsuit against TikTok and its parent company ByteDance, according to Arstechnica. They allege the social media giant has violated children’s online privacy on an unprecedented scale.
The complaint, filed in a California federal court, accuses TikTok of collecting personal info from millions of kids under 13 without parental consent. This is a clear violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
But the scale of the alleged violations is staggering. According to AP News, the DOJ says TikTok knowingly allowed millions of underage users to create accounts while retaining their data. Even worse, they claim TikTok has millions of “age unknown” accounts that likely belong to children.
This isn’t TikTok’s first run-in with COPPA. In 2019, they paid a $5.7 million fine to the FTC for similar violations. As part of that settlement, TikTok was ordered to delete all data collected from kids and abide by COPPA going forward.
Clearly, that didn’t happen. The new lawsuit alleges TikTok failed to honor parents’ account deletion requests. When parents did ask, TikTok made them jump through hoops and often didn’t follow through.
TikTok’s content moderation is also under fire. The DOJ says human moderators only spend 5-7 seconds reviewing accounts flagged as potentially underage. They claim TikTok failed to use available tech to proactively identify and remove kids’ accounts.
This case could have huge implications for the social media industry. Other tech giants like Google, YouTube, and Facebook have faced similar allegations in recent years. There’s growing concern about social media’s impact on children’s mental health and privacy.
The TikTok lawsuit is a wake-up call. It highlights the urgent need to protect kids’ privacy online and hold social media companies accountable. Expect increased scrutiny and regulation in the coming years.
The ball is now in TikTok’s court. How they respond could determine the future of the platform and shape the social media landscape for years to come. One thing is clear: when it comes to children’s privacy, the stakes have never been higher.
TikTok Is Not The Only Concern
TikTok’s legal troubles stem from the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). This law requires companies to obtain parental consent before collecting personal information from children under 13. In 2019, TikTok settled with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for $5.7 million over COPPA violations. The settlement also required TikTok to comply with COPPA going forward.
However, TikTok is not alone in facing such allegations. Google and YouTube paid a $170 million fine in 2019 to settle similar charges. They were accused of illegally collecting personal information from children without parental consent. More recently, Meta (formerly Facebook) has been sued by dozens of U.S. states. The lawsuits allege that Meta’s platforms, including Instagram, have harmed young people and contributed to the youth mental health crisis. The states claim that Meta knowingly designed features that addict children to its platforms.
These cases highlight the growing concern over the impact of social media on children’s well-being and privacy. As more allegations come to light, the pressure is mounting on companies to prioritize the protection of their youngest users. The outcome of the TikTok lawsuit could have significant implications for the entire social media industry.
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