The FTC has referred its child privacy case against TikTok to the Justice Department

The Federal Commerce Fee has its criticism in opposition to TikTok to the Justice Division after a long-running investigation into the corporate’s privateness and safety practices. “Our investigation discovered cause to consider that TikTok is violating or about to violate the FTC Act and the Kids’s On-line Privateness Safety Act (COPPA),” FTC Chair Lina Khan mentioned in on X.

In a shared by the FTC, the regulator famous its investigation into TikTok after a 2019 privateness settlement associated to Musical.ly, the app acquired by ByteDance that finally turned TikTok. The FTC “additionally investigated further potential violations of COPPA and the FTC Act,” it mentioned. It’s not clear precisely what the FTC turned up, although Politico earlier this 12 months that the regulator was additionally trying into whether or not TikTok had misled customers about whether or not their private information was accessible to folks in China.

The assertion itself is a considerably uncommon transfer for the FTC, which acknowledged that it does not sometimes publicize its referral choices. It mentioned it believed doing so on this case “was within the public curiosity.” The referral is more likely to ramp up strain on TikTok, which can also be preventing a authorized battle in opposition to the US authorities to keep away from a . Lawmakers and different officers have alleged the app poses a nationwide safety menace attributable to its ties to China.

A TikTok spokesperson instructed Engadget in a press release that the corporate was “disillusioned” with the FTC’s choice. “We have been working with the FTC for greater than a 12 months to handle its issues,” the spokesperson mentioned. “We’re disillusioned the company is pursuing litigation as a substitute of continuous to work with us on an affordable answer. We strongly disagree with the FTC’s allegations, lots of which relate to previous occasions and practices which might be factually inaccurate or have been addressed. We’re happy with and stay deeply dedicated to the work we have carried out to guard kids and we’ll proceed to replace and enhance our product.”