Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued TikTok on Thursday, accusing the company of violating the state’s parental rights law by sharing personal data of minors.
In one report, the attorney general’s office claimed that social media giants are putting online privacy and children’s safety at risk. press release. It also said TikTok violated the Protecting Children Online Through Parental Rights Enforcement (Scope) Act. The law prohibits companies like TikTok from “sharing, disclosing, or selling the personally identifying information of minors without the permission of the child’s parent or legal guardian.” ”
BREAKING: Today, I am suing TikTok for sharing a minor’s personal data in violation of Texas law.
Big tech companies are holding me accountable for exploiting Texas children and failing to prioritize the online safety and privacy of minors. pic.twitter.com/lppZ8ebJkd
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) October 3, 2024
The law requires companies to provide parents with tools to manage privacy settings for their children’s accounts. – According to the press release, TikTok does not comply with these regulations. (The Department of Justice announced that TikTok, which collaborated with CCP, collected data on American users’ political views)
“I will continue to hold TikTok and other Big Tech companies accountable for exploiting Texas children and failing to prioritize the online safety and privacy of minors,” Paxton said in a press release. ” he said. “Texas law requires social media companies to take steps to protect children online, and requires parents to do the same. TikTok and other social Media companies cannot ignore their obligations under Texas law.”
The Caller reached out to TikTok but did not receive a response at the time of publication.
of complaint It alleges that the platform shares and discloses minors’ personally identifying information to other app users. In addition to sharing and disclosing information, TikTok also sells information about minors to third parties such as advertisers and search engines, according to the complaint.
The complaint alleges that individuals can access the TikTok website without an account, search the site and access users’ account information. (Related: TikTok sues Biden admin over potential ban)
TikTok has sued the U.S. government, claiming the potential ban violates the First Amendment. pic.twitter.com/aFzqydPu6D
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) May 7, 2024
The lawsuit seeks civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation and injunctive relief to restrain the company from further violating the SCOPE Act.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed charges against TikTok and its parent company ByteDance in August, accusing them of illegally collecting children’s data, the Daily Caller News Foundation reported.
The Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alleged that the companies continued to collect data on millions of minors under the age of 13 without their parents’ permission, in violation of the 2019 FTC agreement. (Related: Lawmakers demand investigation into TikTok’s use of children for parliamentary activities)
The U.S. government also alleged that TikTok and ByteDance failed to respond to parents’ requests to delete their data. Additionally, the federal government alleged that the social media platform violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
