The Federal Trade Commission announced Tuesday that it has referred complaints against TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, to the Justice Department. The agency was investigating the company for possible violations of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act and whether TikTok had violated laws prohibiting “unfair and deceptive” business practices.
“The investigation established reason to believe that the named defendants had broken or were attempting to break the law and that proceedings were in the public interest. Therefore, the Commission voted to refer the complaint to the DOJ pursuant to the procedures outlined in the FTC Act. “The agency said in a statement.
TikTok has been working with the FTC for over a year to address concerns, and issued a public statement saying it was “disappointed” that the FTC was pursuing the lawsuit.
“We strongly disagree with the FTC’s claims,” TikTok’s statement said. “Many of them are factually inaccurate or relate to past events and practices that have been resolved,” it said. “We are proud of the work we have done to protect children and remain committed to it and will continue to update and improve our products.”
The FTC doesn't typically announce that it has referred a complaint, but said it “has determined that it is in the public interest to do so here.”
TikTok paid $5.7 million in 2019 to settle FTC claims that it illegally collected personal information from children. According to the FTC, the settlement is the largest civil penalty the commission has ever received in a child privacy case.
The announcement comes as TikTok faces increased scrutiny in the United States.
Last April, President Biden signed a bill banning TikTok if ByteDance fails to sell TikTok within one year. The move was the result of years of concerns from U.S. lawmakers that ByteDance could leak U.S. user data to the Chinese government. TikTok and ByteDance responded to the bill by suing the government, claiming it violates the U.S. Constitution's promise of “freedom of speech and individual liberty.”