FTC Refers TikTok Complaint to the Department of Justice

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has referred a complaint against TikTok to the Department of Justice, claiming that the popular social media platform is violating a law intended to protect children’s privacy online.

In a statement shared by FOX Business, the FTC stated that it was examining TikTok and its parent company ByteDance during a compliance review of Musical.ly, which ByteDance acquired in 2017. Musical.ly had previously been involved in a 2019 settlement with the regulator for breaching the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

“The Commission also investigated additional potential violations of COPPA and the FTC Act,” the agency wrote in the statement. “The investigation uncovered reason to believe named defendants are violating or are about to violate the law and that a proceeding is in the public interest, so the Commission has voted to refer a complaint to the DOJ, according to the procedures outlined in the FTC Act.”

The statement continued: “Although the Commission does not typically make public the fact that it has referred a complaint, we have determined that doing so here is in the public interest.”

In response, TikTok claimed that it was working with the FTC to address any outstanding issues, and was “disappointed” that the agency resorted to these tactics.

“We’ve been working with the FTC for more than a year to address its concerns,” a TikTok spokesperson told the outlet. “We’re disappointed the agency is pursuing litigation instead of continuing to work with us on a reasonable solution. We strongly disagree with the FTC’s allegations, many of which relate to past events and practices that are factually inaccurate or have been addressed.”

The ByteDance-owned company has been cracking down on its reach in recent weeks in order to remain in compliance with the demands set by United States officials.

Last month, to restrict the visibility of state-affiliated media accounts on its site, TikTok implemented additional regulations. The business updated its advertising regulations, barring state-affiliated media accounts from advertising outside of their home nations, in addition to the feed limits.

Despite these new rules, TikTok continues to suffer the fallout from the proposed federal ban on the platform. Last month, the company announced a round of planned layoffs that affected employees worldwide.