U.S. Government Sues TikTok for Allegedly Allowing Children Under 13 to Join and Interact with Adults

The Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission have filed a lawsuit against TikTok, accusing the app of numerous child privacy violations.

The lawsuit, filed on Friday against TikTok and its parent company ByteDance, claims that the video-sharing platform fails to adequately protect children. According to the government, TikTok allows minors under 13 to interact with adults and access adult content, despite its terms and conditions stating the minimum age to join is 12. Reports suggest that the largest group of U.S. TikTok users are between the ages of 10 and 19, indicating that children who are not yet teenagers have been able to use the app with little enforcement of the age requirement.

The lawsuit also alleges that TikTok collected data from millions of children under 13 who created accounts, such as email addresses, and used this information to set up standard accounts. This is despite the availability of a child-specific version of TikTok. Additionally, parents have reported that the platform often refuses to delete accounts of young children, even after multiple requests.

Concerns have been raised about the dangers of children using TikTok, including instances of harm from viral challenges. In 2021, 10-year-old Nylah Anderson died after attempting the “blackout challenge,” which involved choking herself until she lost consciousness. Her mother, Tawainna Anderson, subsequently sued TikTok, alleging the platform failed to protect children as the deadly challenge appeared on Nylah’s “For You” page.

Furthermore, TikTok has faced accusations of collecting U.S. data for the Chinese government, prompting the U.S. to demand that ByteDance sell the app. However, this sale has not occurred. As of now, TikTok and ByteDance have not publicly responded to the latest legal action.