The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on June 18 referred a complaint against TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, to the Department of Justice (DOJ), stating that an investigation gave them “reason to believe” that possible violations of the law were occurring or were about to occur.
The investigation began in connection with the FTC’s order compliance review of social media platform Musical.ly after a settlement was reached over alleged violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). ByteDance, a Chinese company, acquired Musical.ly in 2017 and merged it with TikTok in 2018.
“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 FTC said in a statement.
It did not specify those alleged violations.
The FTC stated that it also investigated other potential violations of COPPA and the FTC Act but did not provide details. The agency does not typically publicize its referred complaints but determined that it was in the public interest to do so.
“We look forward to our continued partnership with the Department of Justice in this and other matters as we advance our shared interest in protecting the American people and in enforcing the law without fear or favor,” the FTC stated.
TikTok responded to The Epoch Times’ request for comment by stating, “No comment.”
Utah TikTok Case
The referral comes after Utah separately sued TikTok on June 3, alleging that it operates a “virtual strip club” by exposing young users to sexual exploitation.The lawsuit’s goal is to “stop TikTok’s continued profiting from deceptive design features that facilitate sexual exploitation, sex trafficking, the distribution of pornography, and other illegal acts through its virtual currency system in violation of the Utah Consumer Sales Practices Act.”
The heavily redacted lawsuit document alleges that the social media app, through its “TikTok Live” feature, has “profited from manipulative design features that contribute to the emotional, financial, and sexual exploitation of children.”
In response, a TikTok spokesperson told media outlets that the platform has “industry-leading policies and measures to help protect the safety and well-being of teens” and that the company immediately revokes access to features if it discovers that an account does not meet the 18-year-old minimum age requirement to go live.
Divestment
TikTok was also the subject of discussion in Washington earlier this year, as a company executive faced questions from lawmakers alongside other tech companies over child safety and other concerns. President Joe Biden signed a law on April 24 prohibiting any entity from maintaining, updating, or distributing TikTok in the United States unless its Chinese parent company ByteDance divested its ownership by Jan. 19, 2025.Both sides agreed that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit should expedite its decision by Dec. 6, which would allow time for a potential Supreme Court review before the mandated deadline.
Arguments for the forced divestment cite national security concerns to prevent the Chinese Communist Party from influencing Americans and accessing their data through TikTok’s algorithm, and those against it call it a First Amendment violation.
As of April 2024, TikTok had more than 120 million users in the United States.
