TikTok Sued For Privacy Violations Against Minors

PIXABAY ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - The US Department of Justice (DOJ) sued TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance. The large platform is accused of failing to protect the privacy of minors. Quoted from Reuters, DOJ in a lawsuit on Friday, August 2, said TikTok allowed minors to create accounts without parental consent. TikTok also lets these children share messages or videos with adults on the platform. Not only that, this vertical video platform has collected information from children under the age of 13 without parental consent. With these actions, TikTok is accused of violating the Child's Online Privacy Protection Act. DOJ, together with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), stated that this lawsuit needed to be made in order for TikTok to end its wrong actions.

(This platform conducts) a massive invasion that violates the law on children's privacy. FTC chairman Lina Khan gave the same response. Lina said, "TikTok consciously and repeatedly violates children's privacy, threatens the safety of millions of children across the country."

Atas pelanggaran Undang-Undang Perlindungan Privasi Daring Anak, FTC mengajukan denda sebesar 51.744 dolar AS (Rp837 juta) per pelanggaran dalam sehari.

This nominal will be simulated with the number of violations TikTok has committed. On the other hand, TikTok denies these allegations. The company said the FTC's accusations through DOJ were inaccurate as most of the infringement events occurred in the past. TikTok also confirmed that this privacy issue had been addressed. "Most (accusations) are related to past events and practices that are factually inaccurate or have been handled. We are proud of our efforts to protect children, and we will continue to update and improve this platform," TikTok said.