JAKARTA - A Portuguese-based consumer protection group has sued the short video app TikTok for allegedly allowing children under the age of 13 to register an account without parental consent and failing to implement measures to protect them.
The lawsuit comes a day after UK data watchdog said it had convicted TikTok of 12.7 million for violating data protection laws, including using children's personal data without parental consent.
TikTok, which is owned by ByteDance Ltd in Beijing, has been banned by governments of Australia, the United States, France, and other Western countries for concerns that China could use TikTok user data.
"Ius Omnibus claims TikTok is benefiting from children under the age of 13, taking advantage of their special vulnerabilities," the nonprofit group said in a statement. They asked the Lisbon court to "end unlawful behavior" and ordered financial compensation for those affected.
While TikTok has an age limit, the group says that TikTok is not implementing a mechanism to prevent registration by users under the age of 13.
In a separate lawsuit, the group claims users older than 13 are also victims of "misleading business practices" and that some personal data is used without their full consent.
Ius Omnibus said that this situation threatens the safety and health of children as well as their moral, psychological, and physical integrity as well as the privacy of their personal and family life. TikTok has not yet responded to requests for comment.
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