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Bochen Han

In the latest legal action confronting TikTok, the US Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission filed a civil suit on Friday against the short-video app and its Chinese parent company ByteDance, claiming they failed to protect children’s privacy.
The government said TikTok, which boasts about 170 million US users, violated a law that forbids using, collecting or disclosing personal information from children under the age of 13 without parental permission.
The DoJ said TikTok knowingly allowed children to create regular accounts on the app and retained their personal information, such as email addresses, without parental consent and frequently failed to honour account-deletion requests from parents.
In 2019, the government sued TikTok’s predecessor, Musical.ly, for violating the same law, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), and its implementing regulations.
Since then, the DoJ said, TikTok has been subject to a court order requiring it to take actions to comply.


“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 Benjamin C. Mizer, acting US associate attorney general, on Friday.
At present, the Chinese-owned platform is challenging a new law that would require ByteDance to divest TikTok’s US assets by January 2025 or face a ban.
TikTok and ByteDance filed a federal suit in May, arguing that the law violates several provisions of the US Constitution, including the First Amendment, which protects free speech. Also in May, a group of TikTok users filed a lawsuit against the federal government.
Oral arguments regarding the forced divestment have been scheduled in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in September. The matter is expected to reach the Supreme Court.
Also on Friday, a bipartisan group of over 50 lawmakers filed an amicus brief in support of the government, pushing back against claims that the law limits speech and arguing that it is “focused entirely on the regulation of foreign adversary control”.
TikTok has been under fire by US officials for years over concerns that Beijing could access its data and use it to manipulate or surveil Americans. TikTok refutes the claims, saying they are unsubstantiated.

In a heavily redacted statement supporting a DoJ brief filed last Friday at the federal appeal court, Casey Blackburn, an assistant director of US national intelligence, said TikTok and ByteDance had already “taken action in response” to Chinese government “demands to censor content outside of China”.
TikTok, in response, said the government still provided no proof.
The company also disagreed with the allegations from Friday’s suit, contending that many of them “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,” it said.
Last year the company faced fines from the European Union and Britain over its handling of children’s data.
On Tuesday, the US Senate passed a bill that would extend COPPA to cover teenagers up to age 17, ban advertising targeting children and teens as well as give children and parents the option to delete their information from social-media platforms.
The bill would also need to pass the House of Representatives before it could become law.


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US-China relations

US sues TikTok and China’s ByteDance, claiming they failed to protect children’s privacy

A view of an entrance to TikTok’s office in Los Angeles, California, in April. Photo: EPA-EFE

A view of ByteDance’s office in San Jose, California. The Chinese company developed TikTok. Photo: Shutterstock

At TikTok owner ByteDance’s Singapore office, 41 people hospitalised with food poisoning

Signage at the ByteDance offices in Singapore. Photo: Bloomberg

41 people were taken to hospital on Tuesday after a suspected food poisoning incident at the Singapore office of TikTok owner ByteDance. Photo: Harvey Kong

TikTok ban: US Justice Department claims app collected user views on abortion, gun control

The US Justice Department urged an appeal court to reject TikTok’s lawsuit challenge to a crackdown law that could see the app banned in the United States. Photo: Reuters

Participants hold signs in support of TikTok outside the US Capitol Building on March 12 in Washington. Photo: TNS

US Supreme Court throws out rulings on state laws regulating social media

The US Supreme Court threw out a pair of judicial decisions involving challenges to Republican-backed laws in Florida and Texas designed to restrict the power of social media companies. Photo: AP

The US Supreme Court on Monday kept a hold on efforts in Texas and Florida to limit how Facebook, TikTok, X, YouTube and other social media platforms regulate content posted by their users. Photo: Shutterstock

US drops claims that TikTok misled users over Chinese access in privacy lawsuit

TikTok is fighting allegations in the US that it violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. Photo: AFP

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testifies before a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing in Washington on March 23, 2023. Photo: AFP

TikTok and China’s ByteDance sue to block US law seeking sale or ban of app

The lawsuit says the Chinese government “has made clear that it would not permit a divestment of the recommendation engine that is a key to the success of TikTok in the United States”. Photo illustration: Reuters

US President Joe Biden speaks after signing a foreign aid bill in Washington on April 24 that included a measure to ban TikTok in the US if its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, fails to divest it. Photo: AFP

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Popular short-video platform accused of violating law by collecting personal information from kids under 13 without parental permission


Popular short-video platform accused of violating law by collecting personal information from kids under 13 without parental permission.
