The Department of Justice is suing TikTok, which accuses the company of collecting children’s data

The Justice Department sued TikTok on Friday, accusing the company of violating the Children’s Online Privacy Act and contradicting a settlement it reached with another government agency.

The complaint, filed jointly with the Federal Trade Commission in California federal court, comes as the US and a prominent social media company are embroiled in another legal battle that will determine whether – or how – TikTok will continue. to work in that country.

The latest case centers on allegations that TikTok, a social media platform popular among young users, and its China-based parent company ByteDance violated federal law requiring apps to and child-oriented websites obtain parental consent before collecting minor children’s information. 13.

TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“This action is important to prevent defendants, who are repeat offenders and operate on a large scale, from collecting and using the private information of minors without parental consent or control,” Brian M. Boynton , head of the Department of Justice’s Public Affairs Division, said in a statement.

The US decided to file a lawsuit after an investigation by the FTC that looked into whether the companies were following a previous decision related to TikTok’s predecessor, Musical.ly.

In 2019, the federal government sued Musical.ly, saying it violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, by failing to notify parents about its collection and use of personal information for children under 13 years of age.

In the same year, Musical.ly – acquired by ByteDance in 2017 and merged with TikTok – agreed to pay $5.7 million to settle those charges. The two companies were also subject to a court order ordering them to comply with COPPA, which the government says has not happened.

In the complaint, the Department of Justice and the FTC accuse TikTok of knowingly allowing children to create accounts and store their information without notifying their parents. This practice extends to accounts created in “Kids Mode,” a version of TikTok for children under 13, Justice said in a press release describing the case.

The two organizations allege the information collected includes activities on the app and other identifiers used to build user profiles. They also accused TikTok of sharing data with other companies – such as Meta’s Facebook and an analytics company called AppsFlyer – to encourage “Kids Mode” users to be on the platform more, a practice TikTok called “to retarget inactive users.”

The complaint alleges that TikTok also allowed children to create accounts without providing their age, or obtaining parental consent, by using credentials from third-party services. It classified these as “anonymous” reports, which the organizations say numbered in the millions.

After parents found some of their children’s accounts and requested they be deleted, government officials said their requests were not honored. In a press release detailing the case, Toka said the alleged violation allowed millions of children under the age of 13 to use the popular TikTok app, which allows them to interact with adults and access content. of adults.

In March, an insider told the AP that an FTC investigation was looking into whether TikTok violated a section of the federal law that prohibits “unfair and deceptive” business practices by denying that people those in China have access to US user data.

Those charges were not included in the complaint, which seeks civil penalties and injunctive relief.