Around two thirds of teenagers in the nation use TikTok, a well-known app that was just sued by the U.S. Department of Justice for violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. Here’s what you need to know.
According to the DOJ, TikTok, its parent company ByteDance and its predecessor, Musical.ly, permitted children to create regular TikTok accounts and to create, view, and share short-form videos and messages with adults and others on the regular TikTok platform. As minors did this, defendants allegedly collected and retained their personal information.
“COPPA prohibits website operators from knowingly collecting, using, or disclosing personal information from children under the age of 13, unless they provide notice to and obtain consent from those children’s parents,” said the DOJ. “It also requires website operators to delete personal information collected from children at their parents’ request.”
Per the department, TikTok even unlawfully retained and stored information from “Kids Mode” accounts. Since 2019, when the government sued Musical.ly, the defendants have been under a court order to comply with COPPA.
“When parents discovered their children’s accounts and asked the defendants to delete the accounts and information in them, the defendants frequently failed to honor those requests,” it alleged. “The defendants also had deficient and ineffectual internal policies and processes for identifying and deleting TikTok accounts created by children.”
Millions of children younger than 13 have been subject to data collection by TikTok, and allowed to interact with both adult users and adult content, said the DOJ.
According to The Villanova Law Institute to Address Commercial Sexual Exploitation, TikTok’s “live” feature – which allows users to give each other gifts that can then be exchanged for money – can be used for exploitation of minors.
“Under this scheme, minors are encouraged to create content of themselves dancing or behaving in a way that might otherwise be viewed in the name of ‘likes’ and ‘diamonds,’” the institute explained. “Once a user views these types of videos, they will be shown more and more content featuring minors.”
There have already been multiple cases of adults using TikTok to prey on minors, said the institute. These have ranged from inappropriate messages to physical assault and have impacted children as young as 8 years old.
“In March of 2022, an interaction between a 42 year-old man and a 14 year-old girl went from comments on a post to criminal charges after the man took a bus to go visit the minor he claimed to be ‘in love’ with,” the institute said. It also noted that a TikTok Community Guidelines Report from December revealed that only about 60% of removed videos depicting youth exploitation, abuse, or underage nudity were removed prior to receiving any views.
In April, “Congress recently passed legislation that will force ByteDance to sell TikTok or otherwise see it banned in the U.S. over fears of foreign manipulation on the platform,” Audacy reported. That legislation has been signed by President Joe Biden and ByteDance is expected to decide by next January.
“This unconstitutional law is a TikTok ban, and we will challenge it in court,” the company said in a statement. “We believe the facts and the law are clearly on our side, and we will ultimately prevail. The fact is, we have invested billions of dollars to keep U.S. data safe and our platform free from outside influence and manipulation. This ban would devastate seven million businesses and silence 170 million Americans.”
Even as the government takes action against ByteDance and TikTok, the app remains popular in the U.S. For example, both the current GOP presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump, and the expected Democratic candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris, have accounts.
“The Department is deeply concerned that TikTok has continued to collect and retain children’s personal information despite a court order barring such conduct,” said Acting Associate Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer this week regarding the lawsuit filed Friday. “With this action, the Department seeks to ensure that TikTok honors its obligation to protect children’s privacy rights and parents’ efforts to protect their children.”