US government sues TikTok for allegedly violating children's privacy law

TikTok is facing a lawsuit from the US Justice Department, alleging that the app has failed to prevent children from joining and has unlawfully collected their personal data. The lawsuit claims that TikTok allowed children to create accounts without parental knowledge or consent, collected personal information from children, and ignored requests from parents to delete their children’s data. The lawsuit is based on a 2019 agreement between TikTok and the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which settled allegations of illegal data collection from children. The Justice Department argues that TikTok has continued to violate the law despite the settlement. The lawsuit seeks civil penalties and a court order to prevent future violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).