FTC says TikTok is "violating or are about to violate" child privacy laws

The Federal Trade Commission took the unusual step of issuing a public statement saying it had referred a complaint involving TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, to the US Department of Justice, writing that an “investigation uncovered reason to believe named defendants are violating or are about to violate the law and that a proceeding is in the public interest.”

While it didn’t lay out the nature of the complaint, the FTC, which primarily enforces antitrust law, said the referral stemmed from an agency review of whether TikTok was in compliance with a 2019 FTC settlement between TikTok’s predecessor Musical.ly, over violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, which bars companies from getting information from children under 13 years old without parental consent. The $5.7 million penalty was, at the time, the largest ever fine for COPPA violations.

In March, the Associated Press reported that the FTC was investigating TikTok’s data and security practices.

The public statement on the referral was a notable departure from the FTC’s typical approach to quietly refer matters to the Justice Department.

“Although the Commission does not typically make public the fact that it has referred a complaint, we have determined that doing so here is in the public interest,” the FTC said. “We look forward to our continued partnership with the Department of Justice in this and other matters as we advance our shared interest in protecting the American people and in enforcing the law without fear or favor.”