Filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton lawsuit TikTok claims the company is violating the state’s new child privacy law. This will be the first test since the Texas Online Child Protection Through Parental Empowerment (SCOPE) Act took effect just over a month ago.
Under the law (part of which was struck down by a federal judge), social media platforms would be able to verify the age of young users and offer parental control features, such as the ability for parents to opt their children out of data collection. It is mandatory.
Paxton argues that TikTok’s existing parental control features are insufficient. “However, Defendants provide parental tools to parents or guardians of users known to be between the ages of 13 and 17 that allow them to control or limit most privacy and account settings for known minors. ,” the lawsuit says. state. “For example, a parent or guardian does not have the authority to control a defendant’s ability to share, disclose, or sell personally identifying information of a known minor, nor does a parent or guardian have the authority to control whether a defendant may target advertising to a known minor.” You also have no control over their ability to view them.
The lawsuit also alleges that the app’s “Family Pairing” tool requires parents to create their own TikTok accounts, and that teens are free to deny their parents’ requests to set up monitoring tools. It claims that it is not “commercially reasonable.” TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment. app Already banned Most ads are aimed at people under 18.
“We strongly disagree with these claims and, in fact, we provide strong protections for teens and their parents, including family pairing, all of which are publicly available. ,” the company said in a statement. on X. “We support the protections it provides families.”
The lawsuit adds to TikTok’s legal challenges in the United States. The company is currently fighting legislation that could lead to an outright ban on the app in the United States. There is also a separate lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice related to children’s privacy.
Updated October 3, 2024 at 8:05 PM ET: This story has been updated to include a statement from TikTok.
