The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has forwarded a complaint against the widely-used video-sharing platform TikTok and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance to the Department of Justice, accusing them of failing to safeguard children’s privacy.
In a statement, the FTC stated that it “uncovered reason to believe” TikTok and ByteDance are “violating or are about to violate” the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. The regulator did not disclose further specifics about the alleged violations in its statement. The FTC noted that it usually does not make referrals of complaints public, but “determined that doing so here is in public interest.” The FTC is in charge of consumer protection in the US and also has a significant role in competition policy. TikTok refuted the allegations in a statement on X, pointing out that it had been in discussions with the FTC for over a year.
TikTok is also facing a separate legal battle in the US over a proposed law that would mandate a change of ownership
“We’re disappointed the agency is pursuing litigation instead of continuing to work with us on a reasonable solution,” it said.
TikTok further asserted that many of the FTC’s claims were related to past events and practices, were factually incorrect, or had already been resolved.
In 2019, TikTok agreed to pay $5.7 million to settle FTC allegations against its predecessor company, Musical.ly, regarding collecting data from children under 13 without parental consent, violating US law.
The FTC indicated that the current investigation into TikTok and ByteDance began with an audit to assess whether the platform was adhering to the terms of the previous agreement. TikTok is also facing a separate legal battle in the US over a proposed law that would mandate a change of ownership. US politicians are worried that the Chinese government might gain access to data from American users via ByteDance and exploit the app for propaganda. TikTok denies these allegations and has initiated legal proceedings in the US.