The U.S. Justice Department has decided to drop one of the two proposed claims against ByteDance Ltd.’s TikTok in a forthcoming consumer protection lawsuit. The department will no longer pursue allegations that TikTok misled U.S. consumers about their data security. Instead, the focus of the lawsuit will be on children’s privacy violations.
The Justice Department is preparing to file the lawsuit on behalf of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which investigated the case. The FTC had given the Justice Department a referral with two parts. One part of the complaint alleged that TikTok deceived U.S. consumers by failing to inform them that Beijing-based employees of its parent company, ByteDance, would have access to their personal and financial information. This part of the complaint is being dropped.
The DOJ plans to proceed with allegations that the company violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which bars collecting data about children under the age of 13. TikTok has faced enormous scrutiny over the security of user data and ties between its parent company, ByteDance, and the Chinese government. President Joe Biden in April signed a law that would ban TikTok unless it is sold within a year. The company is challenging the law in the courts.
The department declined to comment on the decision to drop the allegations that TikTok misled consumers about data privacy. The FTC also declined to comment on the DOJ’s decision. When the Justice Department represents another agency in court, it has the authority to determine the best litigation strategy to ensure there are no conflicts with national security concerns or other cases. The FTC recommended the agency sue TikTok over the two violations and took the unusual step of making its referral public on June 18.
Read more: www.msn.com
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