The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a lawsuit against TikTok, accusing the social media giant of unlawfully collecting children’s data and impeding parental control over accounts.

The DOJ alleges that TikTok’s practices amount to a “massive-scale” invasion of child privacy, violating laws requiring parental consent for data collection from users under 13.

Following an investigation by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the lawsuit claims TikTok implemented “deficient” screening methods for underage accounts and obstructed parents’ attempts to delete them. 

A review of 1,700 parental deletion requests between 2019 and 2020 found that 30% of accounts were still active in November 2021.

According to the filing, TikTok moderators had limited access to user videos and were instructed to flag underage accounts only if they saw explicit age admissions. Moderators typically had mere seconds to make decisions.

DOJ’s Demands and TikTok’s Response

The DOJ seeks court orders to halt TikTok’s alleged violations and determine penalties. 

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton emphasized the need to prevent “repeat offenders” from collecting young children’s private information without parental consent.

According to the BBC, TikTok disputed the allegations, stating that many related to past events or practices have been addressed. 

The company claims to proactively remove underage users and implement voluntary protections like default screen-time limits for minors.

With over 1 billion global users, including more than 170 million in the U.S., TikTok faces increased scrutiny. In 2023, Pew Research reported that over 60% of U.S. teens aged 13-17 used the platform, with more than half doing so daily.

The lawsuit intensifies pressure on TikTok and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, which is already contending with potential U.S. legislation threatening to ban the app.