The Federal Trade Commission said on Tuesday it had forwarded a complaint against TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, to the Department of Justice. The commission was investigating the company for potential violations of the Children's Online Privacy Act and whether TikTok violated laws banning “unfair and deceptive” business practices.
“Because the investigation revealed reason to believe the named defendants have violated or are attempting to violate the law and because a prosecution is in the public interest, the Commission has resolved to refer the charges to the Department of Justice, following the procedures set forth in the FTC Act,” the commission said in a statement.
TikTok released a public statement noting that it has been working with the FTC for over a year to address its concerns and that it is “disappointed” that the FTC is filing a lawsuit.
“We strongly oppose the FTC's allegations, many of which are factually incorrect or relate to past events or practices that we have already addressed,” TikTok's statement read. “We are proud of the work we've done to protect kids and remain deeply committed to it, and we will continue to update and improve our product.”
The FTC said it typically does not announce the filing of complaints but “has determined that it is in the public interest to do so here.”
In 2019, TikTok paid $5.7 million to settle FTC allegations that it illegally collected children's personal information. The settlement was the largest civil penalty ever awarded by the FTC in a children's privacy case, according to the FTC.
The announcement comes as TikTok faces increased scrutiny in the United States.
President Biden signed a bill in April that would ban TikTok if ByteDance couldn't sell it within a year. The move was the result of long-standing concerns from U.S. lawmakers who feared ByteDance would leak U.S. users' data to the Chinese government. TikTok and ByteDance fought the bill by suing the government, arguing that the law violates the U.S. Constitution's promises of “both freedom of speech and individual liberty.”