TikTok Sued by United States Justice Department for Violating Child Privacy Laws

[MacRumors]

The United States Department of Justice today sued TikTok and its parent company ByteDance for violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). COPPA makes it illegal for websites to collect, use, and disclose data from children under the age of 13 without parental consent.

The lawsuit [PDF] alleges that from 2019 on, TikTok has knowingly allowed children to create TikTok accounts and to create, view, and share videos and messages with adults and others on the TikTok platform. TikTok is accused of collecting and retaining personal information from children without consent from their parents. Data was collected even from accounts created in Kids Mode.

Millions of children under 13 have used the regular TikTok app, which the DoJ says has subjected them to "extensive data collection" and allowed them to "interact with adult users and access adult content." TikTok is also accused of making it difficult for parents to get their child's account and data deleted.

The Department of Justice is seeking civil penalties for every COPPA violation and injunctive relief that would prevent TikTok from continuing to collect data from children.

TikTok is already embroiled in a lawsuit with the U.S. government over a bill that requires the social network to be sold off to a non-Chinese company or face a ban in the United States. TikTok parent company ByteDance has until January 19, 2025 to find a buyer for TikTok, but a sale is unlikely because the Chinese government would need to approve the divestiture, and it has said that it would "firmly oppose" any effort to sell TikTok.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: TikTok Sued by United States Justice Department for Violating Child Privacy Laws

 

[justperry]

All these social media apps are actually very anti social, ban all of them, especially for teenagers.

 

[DTphonehome]

I really wish they would just ban this app already.

 

[Vulkan]

I feel all social media should be 18+ only... No one under the age of 18 should have an account any of those sites. Social Media should be treated like *******.

 

[Mr_Ed]

All these social media apps are actually very anti social, ban all of them, especially for teenagers.

Yeah, I find it difficult to identify any redeeming value for any of them. I control how much time my son spends on his devices, what gets installed on his devices, web site access on his devices. Tiktok (and a few others) will not even DNS resolve in my home network. That may sound draconian to some, but being a teenager is already hard enough without all the other BS pressures introduced by social media.

 

[iMac The Knife]

Like others have mentioned, I think all social media should be 18+, if not 21+. I've lived without it, then with it when it came along, and for the past four years I've lived without it again. I can tell you that I was and am a lot happier without it. To each their own though.

 

[iMac The Knife]

Yeah, I find it difficult to identify any redeeming value for any of them. I control how much time my son spends on his devices, what gets installed on his devices, web site access on his devices. Tiktok (and a few others) will not even DNS resolve in my home network. That may sound draconian to some, but being a teenager is already hard enough without all the other BS pressures introduced by social media.

Good on you, and I mean it!

 

[CarpalMac]

Out of curiosity I tried TikTok once and quickly was subjected to videos that would likely see me added to a register. I deleted it immediately and left a factual and inoffensive review on the appstore accordingly which was deleted, without explanation.

I find the whole impact and control such echo chamber, directed content "outlets" have on big business and society as a whole, extremely unsavory.

 

[jarman92]

I really wish they would just ban this app already.

They did!

 

[jarman92]

Out of curiosity I tried TikTok once and quickly was subjected to videos that would likely see me added to a register.

That's pretty unbelievable because, while I don't use TikTok myself, it's widely known to be by far the strictest social media platform when it comes to moderation.

 

[Keymaster]

I have a two year old daughter, and I'm really glad that we have many years before she starts getting into social media. I already have plans to limit her access, and to talk to her about the pitfalls and how it can cause real trauma. But, I suspect the reality is that it's unavoidable, even if I block her from using it other kids will, and they will let her use their phones to see it and say things about her on it. It's really become a key part of being a kid now, they all live on their phones to some level...giving her the tools to use it safely and the knowledge to use it wisely is really the best I think I can do for her.

What would help us all is if we get legislation that protects online privacy and kids online. Putting real teeth into limitations on social media and internet sites just might help cut into their need to use all of us for profit, and make it easier to be online as well. I still remember the early internet, without a flood of ads and bitter arguments...it was actually useful for a while, like it could be if some boundaries are put in place. The companies are so powerful now that I don't now if that's possible, billionaires just get their way on everything, but we can always hope.

 

[cycomiko]

While snapchat and instagram look on with laughter and millions of sub-13 year old users.

 

[Plutonius]

I have a two year old daughter, and I'm really glad that we have many years before she starts getting into social media.

It happens quicker then you think.

 

[ryan102]

They did!

Think you'll find they haven't.

TikTok has been put on notice to either sell up or be banned by January 2025.
TikTok is currently appealing the decision and may get it over-ruled in the courts meaning they'd get the law overturned.
If TikTok fails in their court case then they have until January 19, 2025 to do one of the above 2 options.

However the Jan 19 date could be delayed by days or even weeks. Ironically the US is going to have a new President on January 20th. I would imagine a Trump win would likely reverse the ban law saving TikTok in potentially the last few weeks. Kamala will naturally follow it through.

 

[CapitalIdea]

Like others have mentioned, I think all social media should be 18+, if not 21+. I've lived without it, then with it when it came along, and for the past four years I've lived without it again. I can tell you that I was and am a lot happier without it. To each their own though.

21+? You want people who are old enough to be liable for taxes, able to participate in choosing the president and getting their limbs blown off in war not to be allowed to socialize how they choose? Weird.

 

[VisceralRealist]

TikTok is pretty trash, but social media is often used as a scapegoat for various other, only marginally related, societal problems.

 

[iMac The Knife]

21+? You want people who are old enough to be liable for taxes, able to participate in choosing the president and getting their limbs blown off in war not to be allowed to socialize how they choose? Weird.

Yes, that is correct. I care not if you think that is weird.

 

[Ethosik]

Controversial opinion. Social media should be locked down to legal age only. Having extended family members have predatory actions against them because some 40 yr old dude liked their dance is just gross and gets in their DMs.

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

On the one hand, I see many people young and old using these platforms for good, but I believe if there’s an issue it’s that younger people in particular don’t understand what’s good for them in the long term.

To be clear, if someone had told me in the early-Nineties when I was young that I could own a device with all the capabilities that we know of today, I would have snatched at it like anyone else. A Game Boy was about the most advanced potable ‘toy’ one could own, but you’d be lucky to get 2 hours from the batteries, the games soon became repetitive, and there was no wider way to network on it. These inherent limitations meant the device was good purely for short bursts of fun.

But today, children are given monumenrally more advanced devices by adults with little or no regard for their welfare other than “We don’t want them to feel left out” in the company of their friends. So they’re shifting accountability and the child becomes responsible for how they manage their own behaviour on the device, despite not having emotional maturity or deep knowledge of how the broader world operates. Google search may as well be Pandora’s box.

What I see today with social media - and this is the saddening thing - is children using it to document lives that aren’t real. It’s this detachment from reality is worrying, because many of the ways that young people grow to become healthy adults is by taking an interest in the world right around them rather than the one that is fabricated on their phone. Social media in its worst form represents a ‘me me me’ culture where balanced discussions and criticism cannot take place, where egos are constructed, and where the darker side of peoples characters negatively impacts others.

 

[macfacts]

All these social media apps are actually very anti social, ban all of them, especially for teenagers.

Banning kids means collecting personal information from everyone else, cause they would have to prove they are over 18 to use social media.

 

[Timpetus]

The way it should actually work is they collect no information about you at all, but then they'd have to charge for social media. Maybe someone can come up with an open source, decentralized social media platform attached to a blockchain, where privacy and free speech are both actually absolute because they are fully baked in?

 

[QquegChristian]

Apple and Google should just not even let social media apps install on a child’s phone. Done. Kids are going to put in a fake age otherwise.

I work a salary position for a deals website, making TikToks to teach people how to save money on groceries etc. Real bummer my job and health insurance is in jeopardy now yet Meta gets away with anything they want.

I just got a Quest 3 and their Metaverse world might be something to explore if it weren’t exclusively little kids. It’s absolutely impossible to go anywhere in it without being connected to voice chat with children. One of the most popular rooms is all 10 year olds playing virtual Russian roulette.

 

[Victor Mortimer]

I have a two year old daughter, and I'm really glad that we have many years before she starts getting into social media. I already have plans to limit her access, and to talk to her about the pitfalls and how it can cause real trauma. But, I suspect the reality is that it's unavoidable, even if I block her from using it other kids will, and they will let her use their phones to see it and say things about her on it. It's really become a key part of being a kid now, they all live on their phones to some level...giving her the tools to use it safely and the knowledge to use it wisely is really the best I think I can do for her.

What would help us all is if we get legislation that protects online privacy and kids online. Putting real teeth into limitations on social media and internet sites just might help cut into their need to use all of us for profit, and make it easier to be online as well. I still remember the early internet, without a flood of ads and bitter arguments...it was actually useful for a while, like it could be if some boundaries are put in place. The companies are so powerful now that I don't now if that's possible, billionaires just get their way on everything, but we can always hope.

I don't know what early internet you were on. I mean, sure, there were zero ads, I was on the internet when ads were prohibited on NSFNET. But no bitter arguments? That NEVER happened. They were just about nerd stuff.

I really hate stupid "protecting kids" nonsense online. What we need are strong privacy laws for everybody.

 

[Victor Mortimer]

Think you'll find they haven't.

TikTok has been put on notice to either sell up or be banned by January 2025.
TikTok is currently appealing the decision and may get it over-ruled in the courts meaning they'd get the law overturned.
If TikTok fails in their court case then they have until January 19, 2025 to do one of the above 2 options.

However the Jan 19 date could be delayed by days or even weeks. Ironically the US is going to have a new President on January 20th. I would imagine a Trump win would likely reverse the ban law saving TikTok in potentially the last few weeks. Kamala will naturally follow it through.

It's unconstitutional. There's really no question, it's not going to happen. It's just idiotic performative legislating.

TikTok is here to stay until the next big thing happens. And honestly that's not actually a bad thing. Sure, there's a lot of idiotic nonsense videos on there, but it's also the current preferred political activism platform for young people now that Xitter is a neo-Nazi cesspool.

Sure, I'm not a fan of the format myself, I don't even have an account. But I've seen how the kids are using it, and I'm all for it. No, I'm not thrilled that the fascist mainland Chinese government have hooks into it, but I do like that the "five eyes" countries don't have any ability to control it.

 

[jarman92]

Think you'll find they haven't.

TikTok has been put on notice to either sell up or be banned by January 2025.
TikTok is currently appealing the decision and may get it over-ruled in the courts meaning they'd get the law overturned.
If TikTok fails in their court case then they have until January 19, 2025 to do one of the above 2 options.

However the Jan 19 date could be delayed by days or even weeks. Ironically the US is going to have a new President on January 20th. I would imagine a Trump win would likely reverse the ban law saving TikTok in potentially the last few weeks. Kamala will naturally follow it through.

Close, but not quite. The President—whether it be Biden, Harris, or Trump—has no authority to "reverse" a law; only Congress or the courts can do that. The law allows for the President, under certain circumstances, to grant TikTok one extension of no more than 90 days past 1/19/25. So if the law is upheld and TikTok refuses or is unable to divest, it will be banned in the US by, at the absolute latest, April 19, 2025.