The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a significant development on Tuesday regarding its ongoing investigation into TikTok.
The agency voted 3-0-2 to refer a formal complaint against the social media platform and its parent company ByteDance to the Department of Justice (DOJ), indicating a potential escalation in the government’s efforts to address concerns about the way TikTok collects and handles data from underage users.
The FTC’s investigation stems from a 2019 settlement with Musical.ly, a video-sharing app acquired by TikTok in late 2017. Musical.ly faced penalties for violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), a law that requires parental consent before collecting personal information from children under 13.
TikTok then agreed to pay $5.7 million to settle the FTC’s allegations that Musical.ly “illegally collected personal information from children.”
The FTC’s most recent statement on Tuesday (June 18) suggests the investigation uncovered evidence that TikTok may be in violation of COPPA again, or potentially violating the FTC Act, which prohibits unfair or deceptive business practices.
“The investigation uncovered reason to believe [TikTok and ByteDance] are violating or are about to violate the law and that a proceeding is in the public interest, so the Commission has voted to refer a complaint to the DOJ.”
Federal Trade Commission
“The investigation uncovered reason to believe [TikTok and ByteDance] are violating or are about to violate the law and that a proceeding is in the public interest, so the Commission has voted to refer a complaint to the DOJ, according to the procedures outlined in the FTC Act,” the FTC said.
TikTok, in a statement responding to the referral, stressed its year-long cooperation with the FTC and expressed its disappointment at the agency’s decision to pursue litigation.
“We’ve been working with the FTC for more than a year to address its concerns. We’re disappointed the agency is pursuing litigation instead of continuing to work with us on a reasonable solution,” TikTok said.
“We’re disappointed the agency is pursuing litigation instead of continuing to work with us on a reasonable solution. We strongly disagree with the FTC’s allegations, many of which relate to past events and practices that are factually inaccurate or have been addressed.”
TikTok
“We strongly disagree with the FTC’s allegations, many of which relate to past events and practices that are factually inaccurate or have been addressed. We’re proud of and remain deeply committed to the work we’ve done to protect children and we will continue to update and improve our product.”
TikTok added: “We offer an age-appropriate experience with stringent safeguards, proactively remove suspected underage users, and have voluntarily launched safety features such as default screentime limits, family pairing, and privacy by default for minors under 16.”
Earlier this year, TikTok launched a global Youth Council, an initiative aimed at improving user safety as the company faces increasing scrutiny over its ability to protect younger users from harmful content and addictive algorithms.
Outside the US, TikTok is also facing formal proceedings in the European Union, focusing on the platform’s protection of minors, and risk management of addictive design and harmful content, among other things.
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