The United States Department of Justice on Friday (local time) filed a lawsuit against TikTok and ByteDance for failing to protect children's privacy on the social media app.

Washington, DC: Chinese short video app TikTok and its parent company ByteDance have been sued over the social media app's failure to protect children's privacy. The US Department of Justice said TikTok violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, which applies to young people under the age of 13, requiring parental consent before collecting any personal information from young users.
Notably, the Chinese app is very popular in America and has around 170 million US users. It is currently fighting a new law that would force ByteDance to remove TikTok's US assets by January 19 or face a stricter ban.
The recent US lawsuit against TikTok and its Chinese parent represents the latest in a series of actions stemming from fears that the company may be intruding on Americans' privacy. A large amount of American data is being collected and misused for the benefit of the Chinese government, which is likely to have adverse consequences. The legal move has been supported by the Federal Trade Commission, asserting that it is a violation of TikTok's violation of laws protecting children's privacy. Frank Pallone, a leading Democrat and member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, emphasized the urgency of keeping TikTok free from Chinese Communist Party influence. He emphasized the inherent dangers of giving adversaries access to critical, sensitive American data.
However, TikTok said on Friday that it disagrees with the allegations, many of which relate to past incidents and practices that are factually incorrect or have been addressed. We are proud of our efforts to protect children and will continue to update and improve the platform.
The Justice Department has slammed TikTok, alleging that the platform allows children as young as 13 to open standard accounts, allowing them to exchange videos and messages with adults. The claim is that TikTok is collecting personal data from these youngsters without their parents' consent. According to the US, it appears that American children have been using TikTok for years, storing their private information on the platform.
“TikTok has knowingly and repeatedly violated children's privacy, putting the safety of millions of children across the country at risk,” said FTC Chair Leena Khan.
The FTC is imposing huge daily fines on TikTok, up to $51,744 for each individual violation, over the company's suspected data collection behavior. This has the potential to total billions if TikTok is found liable. In a new twist, the US Senate approved a bill aimed at expanding the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) to protect teens up to 17 years old. The proposed legislation also sets out to curb advertising specifically aimed at children and teenagers, as well as giving parents and young users the option to delete their information from social media sites.
Notably, to become law, the bill must pass the House, which is currently on recess until September.