FTC Refers TikTok Complaint to Justice Department — Update

By Sabela Ojea

The Federal Trade Commission said it has referred a children privacy protection complaint against TikTok and its parent company ByteDance to the Department of Justice.

The complaint follows an investigation that uncovered reason to believe the defendants are violating or are about to violate the law and that a proceeding is in the best public interest, the FTC said Tuesday.

TikTok disagreed with the FTC's allegations, many of which it said related to past events. "We've been working with the FTC for more than a year to address its concerns. We're disappointed the agency is pursuing litigation instead of continuing to work with us on a reasonable solution," a TikTok spokesperson said.

"We're proud of and remain deeply committed to the work we've done to protect children and we will continue to update and improve our product," the spokesperson said.

The FTC move comes about five years after it reached a $5.7 million settlement with the popular short-video and social-media app, formerly known as Musical.ly, over allegations that it illegally collected personal information from children in violation of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.

The settlement required the TikTok app to take offline all videos made by children under the age of 13.

Write to Sabela Ojea at sabela.ojea@wsj.com; @sabelaojeaguix

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 18, 2024 17:38 ET (21:38 GMT)

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