The US government has filed a lawsuit against TikTok, accusing it of unlawfully collecting data from children and failing to cancel accounts at parents’ request. The Department of Justice describes TikTok’s alleged behavior as a “massive scale invasion” of privacy and a breach of laws demanding parental consent to gather data on anyone under 13. The lawsuit claims that the popular video-sharing platform and its owner, Chinese company Bytedance, are “serial offenders.”
TikTok representatives have denied guilt, saying the company is “proud” of its child protection record. As part of its safety efforts, TikTok says it has set screen time limits and added extra privacy protections for minors. A statement from the organization rejected the allegations, saying they were based on past practices that have since been corrected.
The lawsuit will likely place extra pressure on Chinese company Bytedance, as TikTok already faces a potential nationwide ban in the US. Lawmakers from both major parties have spoken out against the platform, which they believe presents a national security threat to the United States by gathering information on Americans and passing it on to the Chinese government. Earlier this year, legislation passed through the House of Representatives and the Senate requiring Bytedance to sell TikTok or be banned in the United States.
President Biden subsequently signed the bill into law, while Donald Trump criticized it for favoring Facebook, which would benefit from the ban. Nevertheless, Bytedance was given nine months and a three-month grace period to sell the platform. TikTok said it would challenge the legislation in the courts.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew denies the company has any connection to the Chinese government and was grilled on the issue in Congress in March. Lawmakers questioned Shou just hours after the Wall Street Journal published an article citing the Chinese government and its objections to the TikTok sale. Nevertheless, the CEO said, “Let me state this unequivocally: ByteDance is not an agent of China or any other country.”
Internal Chinese laws, however, give the communist government authority to require information from any company registered in the country.
