Texas Sues TikTok for Allegedly Violating Children’s Privacy
By Movieguide® Contributor
The state of Texas recently sued TikTok, alleging the social media platform has been violating children’s privacy and state law.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton “said TikTok, whose parent is China’s ByteDance, does not provide tools to restrict children’s privacy and account settings, even allowing information to be shared from accounts set to ‘private,’ and allows targeted advertising to children,” per Reuters.
This violates Texas’ recent Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment Act (SCOPE), which was put in place to protect minors’ personal data from being mishandled. “Paxton seeks an injunction and civil penalties of up to $10,000 for each violation” of the act, Reuters added.
In a statement shared with Fox Business, Paxton said, “I will continue to hold TikTok and other Big Tech companies accountable for exploiting Texas children and failing to prioritize minors’ online safety and privacy.”
“Texas law requires social media companies to take steps to protect kids online and requires them to provide parents with tools to do the same. TikTok and other social media companies cannot ignore their duties under Texas law,” he concluded.
TikTok responded to Paxton’s accusations, telling Newsweek, “We strongly disagree with these allegations. In fact, we offer robust safeguards for teens and parents, including Family Pairing, all of which are publicly available. We stand by the protections we provide families.”
Movieguide® previously reported on an FTC investigation into TikTok over similar data breach accusations:
The Federal Trade Commission is reportedly investigating TikTok for data and security breaches.
CNN reported that anonymous sources claim “the FTC is probing TikTok over an alleged violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection rule, which requires companies to notify parents and obtain consent before collecting data from children under 13.”
The FTC is also looking into whether or not TikTok violated part of the FTC Act that “prohibits ‘unfair or deceptive’ business practices” when the app denied that user data could “be accessed by individuals in China.”
AP News claims the FTC “is nearing the conclusion of its investigation and could settle with TikTok in the coming weeks,” adding that the next step in the process would be for the FTC to refer the case to the Justice Department, which would have 45 days to decide whether or not to pursue it.
“No final decision has been made on whether to bring a case, or what claims to include, the people said,” Politico reported. “It is not clear whether any action against TikTok would also include parent company ByteDance.”
FTC Director of Public Affairs Douglas Farrar declined to comment on the situation, as did a DOJ spokesperson and a TikTok spokesperson.
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