A group of privacy organizations say that TikTok is in violation of a law that protects children’s privacy on the Internet, as well as an FTC consent decree.
The Center for Digital Democracy, Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, and other groups filed a complaint with the FTC on Thursday alleging that TikTok did not take down all videos made by children under the age of 13, according to a report by Reuters.
The report added that TikTok had previously agreed to remove such videos under a consent agreement with the FTC.
“We found that TikTok currently has many regular account holders who are under age 13, and many of them still have videos of themselves that were uploaded as far back as 2016, years prior to the consent decree,” stated the FTC complaint.
Moreover, TikTok has failed to meet the requirements of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), as the company collects user information which it then shares with third parties for advertising.
“We take privacy seriously and are committed to helping ensure that TikTok continues to be a safe and entertaining community for our users,” said TikTok spokeswoman Hilary McQuaide in response to the complaint.
But the privacy advocates disagree.
“TikTok continues to be one of the most popular apps in the world, and it is widely used by children and teens in the United States, so it is especially important that the FTC promptly and thoroughly investigate TikTok’s practices and take effective enforcement action,” said the groups in their complaint.
The report added that TikTok — then known as Musical.ly — previously paid a fine of $5.7 million after it had failed to get parental consent for the young children using the app.
Berkeley Media Studies Group, Consumer Action, Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Reports and Electronic Privacy Information Center have also signed onto the FTC complaint.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.