TikTok Faces Hefty Fines for Alleged Breach of Children's Privacy

In a high-stakes legal battle, the US government has accused TikTok, the popular social media platform, of knowingly allowing children under 13 to create accounts and collecting their personal information without parental consent. This alleged breach of a previous court order has resulted in the platform facing potential penalties of up to ,744 per violation per day.

Uncovering TikTok's Alleged Disregard for Children's Privacy

Breaching the 2019 Court Order

According to the lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice on behalf of the Federal Trade Commission, TikTok immediately violated a 2019 federal court order that barred the platform from collecting personal information from its youngest users without their parents' consent. The complaint alleges that TikTok "knowingly allowed children under 13 to create accounts in the regular TikTok experience and collected extensive personal information from those children without first providing parental notice or obtaining verifiable parental consent."

Exploiting Loopholes and Ineffective Moderation

The lawsuit further claims that TikTok allowed users to bypass age restrictions by editing their birthdate, enabling them to sign up without parental permission. Additionally, the platform's content moderators allegedly spent only five to seven seconds on average reviewing accounts for age violations, and millions of potentially underage accounts were never removed due to a bug in TikTok's internal tools.

Misleading Parents and Exploiting Children's Data

The lawsuit also takes issue with TikTok's dedicated Kids Mode, alleging that the platform gathered and shared information about children's usage of the service and built profiles on them, while misleading parents about the data collection. When parents tried to have their children's data deleted, TikTok allegedly forced them to jump through unnecessary hoops.

A History of Privacy Violations

The current case against TikTok is not the first time the platform has faced allegations of violating children's privacy. The 2019 court order stemmed from TikTok's predecessor, Musical.ly, allegedly violating a number of rules aimed at protecting children's privacy under the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

Escalating Regulatory Scrutiny

The lawsuit against TikTok also reflects the US government's broader concerns about the platform's ownership by the China-based ByteDance and the potential national security risks associated with it. Lawmakers have expressed worries about China exploiting TikTok to spread propaganda and gather data on vulnerable Americans, which TikTok has refuted as "baseless fear-mongering."

The Uncertain Future of Children's Online Safety

As the case against TikTok unfolds, lawmakers in the US have been considering a major update to COPPA in the form of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA). While the proposed measure aims to require services like TikTok to better control kids' usage, it has faced criticism for potentially cutting off some young populations, such as transgender kids, from vital support networks. The fate of KOSA remains uncertain, but the case against TikTok suggests that stricter rules may not be enough to stop companies from pursuing familiar tactics.