The TikTok social network is once again being taken to court in the US, this time by the Justice Department. The agency filed a civil lawsuit on Friday against TikTok and its parent company ByteDance for allegedly violating the country"s Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
In a press release, the DOJ claims TikTok illegally allowed children under the age of 13 to create regular accounts on the social network and to create and share posts on those accounts with adults from 2019 to the present. COPPA says that online networks cannot collect personal information from children under the age of 13 without parental approval.
The DOJ added:
Even for accounts that were created in “Kids Mode” (a pared-back version of TikTok intended for children under 13), the defendants unlawfully collected and retained children’s email addresses and other types of personal information. Further, when parents discovered their children’s accounts and asked the defendants to delete the accounts and information in them, the defendants frequently failed to honor those requests.
The agency is asking the courts to fine TikTok and ByteDance and also order them not to make any more COPPA violations.
CNN reports that a spokesperson for TikTok pushed back against the DOJ"s allegations. The spokesperson said the agency"s claims "relate to past events and practices that are factually inaccurate or have been addressed." It added that it has put "stringent safeguards" in place for its service, and has also taken steps to remove underage users.
This is just the latest issue TikTok has had to deal with in the US. In April, President Joe Biden signed a bill into law that requires that TikTok find a US buyer for the service and break away from the China-based ByteDance within 270 days, or the government could ban the TikTok app from US app stores. ByteDance has filed its own lawsuit against this law, claiming it is unconstitutional.