The Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a lawsuit against TikTok, accusing the social media giant of allowing children under the age of 13 to create accounts without parental consent and collecting extensive data on them, which violates U.S. child privacy laws.
The lawsuit claims TikTok knowingly permitted children to use its platform through its “Kids Mode” feature. In this mode, children were prompted to enter a username, which does not include personal information, to create an account. However, TikTok failed to notify parents or obtain their consent. Although kids in this mode could not upload videos, they could still view content, during which TikTok allegedly collected personal data such as unique device identifiers and IP addresses.
According to the DOJ, TikTok’s methods for preventing underage users were insufficient. Previously, the app allowed users to restart the account creation process if they initially entered a birthdate indicating they were under 13. Additionally, TikTok enabled users to log in through Instagram or Google, categorizing these accounts as “age unknown,” further complicating age verification.
The DOJ’s lawsuit asserts that TikTok has allowed millions of children to use its platform without proper parental consent and did not comply with a 2019 injunction requirement to maintain records of its compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The DOJ is seeking a court order to prevent TikTok from further COPPA violations and impose civil penalties for each infraction. Under the FTC Act, these penalties can reach up to $51,744 per violation, per day.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) initiated the investigation leading to the DOJ’s complaint. In June, the FTC referred a complaint against TikTok to the DOJ, citing potential violations of the FTC Act and COPPA. The FTC announced it had found substantial reasons to believe TikTok was violating the law.
This lawsuit comes just a month before the DOJ is scheduled to face TikTok in court over a separate lawsuit regarding a new U.S. law that could ban the app unless its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, agrees to spin it off.
TikTok spokesperson Alex Haurek responded to the lawsuit, stating that the company disagrees with the DOJ’s claims, many of which pertain to past practices that have since been addressed. Haurek emphasized TikTok’s efforts to protect children, including implementing stringent safeguards, removing suspected underage users, and introducing features like default screentime limits, Family Pairing, and additional privacy protections for minors.
