Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit accusing TikTok of 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 require the parents or guardians of users who are known to be between the ages of 13 and 17 to control or restrict most of the privacy and account settings of users who are known to be minors.” “We do not provide parents with the tools they need to be able to do so,” the complaint states. Parents or guardians do not have the authority to control Defendant’s sharing, disclosure, or sale of personally identifying information of known minors, and Defendant’s ability to display targeted advertisements to known minors. There is no authority to control it. ”
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 decline 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. The app already prohibits most targeted advertising to under-18s.
“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 Oct. 3, 2024, 8:05 p.m. ET: This story has been updated to add a statement from TikTok.
