According to the agency, it is of the opinion that the corporation “is violating or about to violate” regulations covering the privacy of children.
In the wake of a protracted investigation into the privacy and security policies of TikTok, the Federal Trade Commission has decided to forward its complaint against the firm to the Department of Justice after conducting the inquiry. “Our investigation found grounds to think that TikTok is violating or about to violate the FTC Act and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA),” stated FTC Chair Lina Khan in a post on X. “Our investigation found reason to believe that TikTok is violating.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a more extensive statement in which it mentioned that it was conducting an inquiry into TikTok following a privacy settlement that was reached in 2019 regarding Musical.ly, the app that was acquired by ByteDance and subsequently became TikTok. According to the statement, the Federal Trade Commission “also investigated additional potential violations of COPPA and the FTC Act.” It is not entirely clear what the Federal Trade Commission discovered; however, Politico reported earlier this year that the authority was also investigating whether or not TikTok had misled consumers about whether or not their personal data was available to others in China.
Regarding the statement itself, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recognized that it does not normally make its referral determinations public. This is a somewhat rare action on their part. In this particular instance, it stated that it considered that doing so “was in the public interest.” TikTok, which is also engaged in a legal battle against the United States government in an effort to avoid a potential ban, is likely to continue to face more pressure as a result of the referral. Because of its connections to China, lawmakers and other officials have asserted that the application constitutes a threat to the nation’s security.
A spokeswoman for TikTok issued a statement to Engadget in which they expressed their “disappointment” with the judgment made by the Federal Trade Commission. A spokeswoman for the company stated, “We have been working with the Federal Trade Commission for more than a year to address its concerns.” Our disappointment stems from the fact that the agency is pursuing legal action rather than continuing to collaborate with us on finding an acceptable solution. We are vehemently opposed to the charges made by the Federal Trade Commission, the majority of which pertain to prior occurrences and practices that are either factually incorrect or have been handled. We are proud of the work that we have done to protect children, and we continue to be completely devoted to that work. Additionally, we will continue to bring our product up to date and improve it.