We have previously outlined the risks of using TikTok, its ban by federal and state governments, and the associated national security risks.
We have focused primarily on privacy and safety threats to TikTok users. Recently, Nebraska and the U.S. Department of Justice sued TikTok directly over various allegations related to children’s use of TikTok. The allegations made in the lawsuits are heartbreaking and are described in detail below.
Complaint by the State of Nebraska
The complaint against TikTok in Nebraska, filed by the Consumer Protection Division of the state’s Attorney General, details how TikTok markets to young children and describes itself as “addictive.” Internal documents show that TikTok’s owners are specifically marketing its use to children under 13 because they believe the Executive decision-making power to restrict usage. This excessive use of TikTok is exactly what the app’s owners want to achieve. Young TikTok users admit to being addicted, and statistics show that they use TikTok into the wee hours of the morning. Even more disturbing is the content that TikTok appears to be deliberately pushing on young children – harmful content, including “mature and inappropriate content, content related to eating disorders, sadness and suicide, and pornography.” In addition, the complaint claims that it is “incredibly difficult” to delete an account.
The complaint alleges that TikTok is harmful and dangerous to children and teens, including “increased rates of depression, anxiety, loneliness, low self-esteem and suicide; disrupts sleep and education; promotes body dysmorphia and eating disorders; and promotes addiction in youth.” The complaint alleges that TikTok: makes false statements about its safety; engages in deceptive and unfair acts and practices that violate the Nebraska Consumer Protection Act and the Deceptive Trade Practice Act; and contains false or misleading statements in its privacy policy. The complaint seeks an injunction, civil fines and penalties, and disgorgement of all profits earned in Nebraska.
We will closely monitor this litigation and developments in other states that may follow suit.
Complaint from the Ministry of Justice
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) also recently filed suit against TikTok. The DOJ’s lawsuit focuses on TikTok’s alleged violations of the federal law known as the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The allegations in the lawsuit detail how TikTok allows children under the age of 13 to sign up for a TikTok account that is not in “kid mode” and can easily bypass the platform’s processes for determining the user’s age. In addition, a user under the age of 13 can open an account without parental consent or through Instagram or Google, which the DOJ says is a violation of COPPA.
Similar to the allegations outlined in the Nebraska complaint, the Justice Department’s complaint describes how TikTok made it very difficult to delete accounts and “obstructed and disregarded” parents’ requests to delete and return their children’s accounts, personal information, and data collected by the app. The complaint alleges that TikTok failed to delete children’s data and continued to collect it despite parents’ requests to delete it. According to the complaint, TikTok retains users’ data “long after their accounts are supposedly deleted.”
The complaint alleges that TikTok does not have adequate internal policies to flag underage users and does not follow its own policies to monitor the platform for underage users, allowing “millions of children” under the age of 13 to use the platform without parental consent, in violation of COPPA.
The Justice Department’s complaint further alleges that TikTok violated TikTok and the Federal Trade Commission’s 2019 consent order by failing to maintain records of compliance with the terms. It also alleges that TikTok misrepresented its remedial behavior by failing to ensure that all U.S. accounts were passed through an age lock and that it deleted children’s data in May 2020. TikTok later admitted the statements were false.
The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking injunctions as well as fines and penalties for TikTok’s violation of COPPA. If you are a parent whose child uses TikTok, check out the complaints. You will get details about how harmful TikTok use is for your child and how little TikTok adheres to its own processes to minimize use by young children.
