The Department of Justice announced a sweeping suit against TikTok on Friday, accusing the social media platform of collecting personal data from children in violation of federal law.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, could make TikTok liable for billions in damages, if successful.
“This action is necessary to prevent the defendants, who are repeat offenders and operate on a massive scale, from collecting and using young children’s private information without any parental consent or control,” Brian Boynton, the head of the DOJ Civil Division, said in a statement.
The suit, which accuses the platform of violating both the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and a 2019 settlement between TikTok parent ByteDance and the Federal Trade Commission, accuses TikTok of enabling underage users to create accounts without parental permission, and knowingly store their data.
Other allegations include TikTok collecting data on “Kids Mode” users in violation of the settlement and sharing that data with advertising partners including Facebook, and failing to comply with parental requests for account deletion.
TikTok, which faces a ban after President Biden signed into law a bill to force the sale of the company away from Chinese company ByteDance on the grounds of national security concerns, denied the allegations in a statement, per the New York Times.
“We disagree with these allegations, many of which relate to past events and practices that are factually inaccurate or have been addressed,” TikTok spokesman Alex Haurek said. “We are proud of our efforts to protect children, and we will continue to update and improve the platform.”
The platform has faced increasing criticism for its privacy mechanisms, as well as for the content its algorithm often serves to children. Despite attempts from Democrats and Republicans alike to shut down or sell off the platform, it has also become an increasingly important tool for political campaigns in the United States.