TikTok sued by US Justice Department for collecting data of under-13 users without consent

TikTok has been sued again by the United States Department of Justice for violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The lawsuit claims TikTok has allowed children under 13 to create accounts and share content without obtaining parental consent since 2019, even from accounts created in Kids Mode.

Although TikTok enforces a minimum age requirement of 13, the DOJ argues that this restriction can be easily bypassed. Until May 2022, TikTok permitted account creation using credentials from services like Instagram and Google. Notably, Google did not require new users to disclose their age until December 2019.

The Department of Justice is seeking civil penalties for each COPPA violation and injunctive relief to stop TikTok from continuing to collect data from children.