Tiktok is already fighting against a law in the USA that would force a change of ownership. Now new allegations are being raised about data protection for children.
Tiktok is facing new legal problems in the USA. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) believes that a US law on child data protection has been violated and has called in the Justice Department. The short video app from China denies the allegations.
The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) did not provide any further details about the alleged violations in the announcement. Such a transfer of a case to the Justice Department is not usually made public – but this time, from the authority’s point of view, it is in the public interest. The FTC is responsible for consumer protection in the USA, among other things, and also plays an important role in competition policy.
Tiktok said it had been in talks with the FTC for more than a year. The company was disappointed that the agency was taking the legal route “instead of continuing to work with us on a reasonable solution.” Even after Tiktok’s statement, the specific allegations remained unclear. The video platform also countered that many of them related to previous events and practices, and some were incorrect or had already been remedied.
Tiktok goes to court to stop law
In 2019, Tiktok agreed to pay $5.7 million to settle FTC allegations against its predecessor company Musical.ly, which involved collecting data from children under the age of 13 without parental consent, in violation of US law.
According to the FTC, the current investigation into Tiktok and its China-based parent company Bytedance began with an examination of whether the platform was complying with the terms of the agreement at the time.
Tiktok is currently fighting against a law in the US that would force a change of ownership. US politicians fear that the Chinese government could access American users’ data via Bytedance and use the app for propaganda. Tiktok rejects this and went to court in the US to stop the law.
Source: Stern
