FTC Refers Complaint against TikTok over Violation of Child Privacy Laws to the DOJ

• On Tuesday (June 18), the FTC referred a complaint against TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, to the DOJ.
• This complaint is about TikTok allegedly violating the FTC Act and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
• TikTok has denied this allegation and expressed its disappointment over the FTC pursuing the legal discourse because the duo had already been in talks for over a year to address said concerns.

A complaint against TikTok and its parent company ByteDance for allegedly violating the privacy of children has been referred by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Speaking about the complaint, the FTC said that during its investigation, it found reasons to believe that the company is either already violating the FTC Act and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), or is on the verge of doing so.

The FTC also added that while it usually does not announce when it refers a complaint to the DOJ, it feels that this time around it was in the public interest to make this announcement.

Note: COPPA applies to all online services operating in the US and governs how they handle data of children i.e. users under the age of 13. The FTC Act, on the other hand, deals with unfair or deceptive acts or practices" by companies.

When asked for a comment, a DOJ spokesperson said that they cannot reveal the contents of the referral. They further added that prior to the referral, the DOJ consulted with the FTC on this matter and will continue to be in talks until the issue is fully resolved.

What Does TikTok Have to Say in Response?A TikTok spokesperson said that the company is extremely disappointed with this decision by the FTC.

The disappointment is primarily because TikTok has been working with the FTC for more than a year now, trying to address all of its concerns. The FTC suddenly pursuing the legal route instead of continuing with the collaboration is upsetting for TikTok.

However, it's worth noting that in February of this year, the EU launched a formal investigation into TikTok to check if its security measures are enough to protect minors.

More US Pressure for TikTok

The timing of this FTC-DOJ complaint couldn't have been worse for TikTok. The company is already facing mounting pressure from the US government to either cut ties with its parent company, ByteDance, or risk getting banned in the US.

In April of this year, President Joe Biden signed a bill that gave ByteDance a year to sell TikTok to a non-Chinese company. This includes nine months of fixed time and an additional extension of three months if the President finds that ByteDance has made earnest and enough progress toward the sale.

TikTok is being banned to cut off Chinese influence over the data of US citizens. In simple words, the US government is worried that the Chinese government might use TikTok to spy on the US.

Although ByteDance has assured that such a thing will never happen, the bill still went through. However, the tricky part is that ByteDance can't just sell TikTok. For starters, it would be a huge loss for the company.

Secondly, and more importantly, Beijing has made it very clear that it will block the sale because it doesn't want TikTok's proprietary algorithm (yes, the one responsible for mindless scrolling and smartphone addiction) to go outside Chinese control.

Lo and behold, TikTok and ByteDance filed a lawsuit against the bill just over a month ago, claiming it to be unfair and an attack on the First Amendment rights of 170 million US citizens.

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