The US government is suing TikTok, claiming the mega-popular app broke the law by playing fast and loose with the data and privacy of millions of children.
DOJ sues TikTok for violating children's privacy laws
In a civil federal lawsuit [PDF] filed in California today, the Justice Department alleged that TikTok and its Beijing-based parent ByteDance violated America's Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and related regulations and is seeking fines and bans.
According to the DoJ, over the past five years, the makers of the video-sharing app:
Collecting and using personal information about under-13s without parental consent, as TikTok allegedly did, is illegal under COPPA, among other things.
