TikTok and its parent company ByteDance were hit with a class action lawsuit on Tuesday from parents who say that the social media platform violated children’s online privacy laws.
The suit alleges that TikTok collected personal information on users under 13, which goes against the rules and guidelines of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 , aka COPPA.
According to court documents obtained by TheWrap, “Plaintiffs seek to represent millions of American children whose personal information has been unlawfully collected and used by TikTok” and to hold the platform accountable for “repeatedly violating the rights of American children” and “to ensure that TikTok’s misconduct is finally stopped.”
The suit also claims that TikTok’s predecessor Musical.ly, which launched in 2014, also “repeatedly and persistently” violated COPPA (that app was merged into TikTok in August 2018 after ByteDance acquired it in November 2017).
The docs cite a 2016 article by New York Times tech reporter John Herrman, who noted that “the app does not collect or show the age of its users, but some of its top-ranked users … appear from their videos and profile photos to be in grade-school. Until recently, the app had a feature that suggested users to follow based on their location. In New York, that feature revealed a list composed largely not just of teenagers, but of children.”
Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice similarly sued TikTok and ByteDance over COPPA violations, alleging the popular social media app “knowingly and repeatedly” infringed on children’s privacy.
The DOJ said the platform, which “collects, stores and processes” data from its users of all ages, “knowingly allowed children under 13 to create and use TikTok accounts without their parents’ knowledge or consent, have collected extensive data from those children, and have failed to comply with parents’ request to delete their children’s accounts and personal information.”
TikTok denied the claims in a statement. “We disagree with these allegations, many of which relate to past events and practices that are factually inaccurate or have been addressed. We are proud of our efforts to protect children, and we will continue to update and improve the platform,” the company said, per reports . “To that end, we offer age-appropriate experiences with stringent safeguards, proactively remove suspected underage users, and have voluntarily launched features such as default screentime limits, Family Pairing and additional privacy protections for minors.”
In April , President Biden signed a law that gave ByteDance 90 days to find a non-Chinese buyer or be banned nationwide. The law is set to go into effect on Jan. 19, 2025. On Monday , the company argued in front of a panel of three judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit as to why the ban should not be implemented.
Also on Tuesday, Instagram revealed wide-sweeping privacy restrictions for users under 18 in order to give parents “peace of mind.”
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.
The post TikTok Faces Class Action Lawsuit for ‘Repeatedly’ Violating Children’s Online Privacy Laws appeared first on TheWrap .
Local News
Comments / 0