TikTok “flagrantly” violated children’s privacy law when it let kids open accounts without parental consent and collected their data, DOJ and the FTC alleged Friday in a lawsuit against the Chinese-owned social media app. TikTok violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) when it knowingly allowed children younger than 13 to maintain accounts, DOJ said in a complaint filed on behalf of the FTC. The company purposefully avoided obtaining parental consent and delivered targeted advertising to underage users, the agencies alleged. The department cited internal communications from a TikTok employee acknowledging the conduct could get the company “in trouble” because of COPPA. TikTok let children bypass age restrictions and create accounts without age verification, DOJ said. Moreover, TikTok classified millions of accounts with an “age unknown” status, the filing said. “TikTok knowingly and repeatedly violated kids’ privacy, threatening the safety of millions of children across the country,” FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a statement. “The FTC will continue to use the full scope of its authorities to protect children online.” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton said the complaint will “prevent the defendants, who are repeat offenders and operate on a massive scale, from collecting and using young children’s private information without any parental consent or control.” In a statement Friday, TikTok said it disagrees with the allegations, “many of which relate to past events and practices that are factually inaccurate or have been addressed.” TikTok offers “age-appropriate experiences with stringent safeguards,” proactively removes “suspected underage users” and has “voluntarily launched features such as default screentime limits, Family Pairing, and additional privacy protections for minors,” the company said. The FTC is seeking a permanent injunction and civil penalties of up to $51,744 per instance of violation. The commission voted 3-0 to refer the complaint to DOJ, with Commissioners Melissa Holyoak and Andrew Ferguson recused.
The Senate Appropriations Committee's report on its Financial Services Subcommittee FY 2025 funding bill “urges” that the FCC move forward on revamping the Universal Service Fund. The Senate Appropriations Financial Services bill, which the panel approved Thursday, would increase annual funding for the FCC and FTC for FY25 (see 2408010059). Senate Appropriations said in the report, released Thursday night, that it wants the FCC to “seek public comment this fiscal year on any reform proposals that have been submitted to the commission or otherwise previously considered that would promote the sustainability and viability of [USF] and resolve inequities in the current contribution structure.” The FCC should “act as soon as possible following review of that record to adopt reforms to achieve” revamp objectives, Senate Appropriations said: The commission “should also provide specific recommendations to Congress regarding additional authority it believes it may need to enact any reforms that are found to be prudent, advisable, or necessary.” Members of a congressional working group are grappling with whether the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ July ruling that the FCC's USF contribution factor is unconstitutional will affect their work on a revamp framework (see 2407300053).
The Senate Appropriations Committee cleared a pair of FY 2025 funding bills Thursday that maintain advance CPB money for FY 2027 and increase annual allocations to the FCC and FTC in excess of their FY 2024 budget. The House Appropriations Committee approved its versions of the FY25 bills covering those agencies, but Republican chamber leaders have delayed floor consideration of both measures amid shifting legislative priorities (see 2407230038).
The Senate Commerce Committee’s surprise adoption Wednesday of an amendment to the Proper Leadership to Align Networks for Broadband Act (S-2238) that would allocate $7 billion in stopgap funding for the FCC’s lapsed affordable connectivity program likely imperils chamber passage of that measure, lawmakers and lobbyists told us. Debate over the pro-ACP amendment and a proposal that attached $3.08 billion to fully fund the FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program also signaled continued friction among panel members over the Spectrum and National Security Act (S-4207).
The FTC offered the FCC an update on its recent “Voice Cloning Challenge” and other work as commissioners consider a draft NPRM on consumer protections against AI-generated robocalls. The NPRM is set for a vote Aug. 7 (see 2407170055). “The four FTC Voice Cloning Challenge winning submissions demonstrate the potential for cutting edge technology to help mitigate risks of voice cloning in the marketplace,” an FTC filing posted Tuesday in docket 23-362 said: “They promote approaches that tap American innovation to help protect the public. The results of the Challenge also highlight that there is no single solution to this problem.”
A case before the U.S. Supreme Court, Consumers' Research, et al. v. Consumer Product Safety Commission, potentially has major implications for the FCC and FTC, and could permit a president to fire a commissioner at will, industry lawyers said. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other conservative groups are asking SCOTUS in amicus filings to grant the writ of certiorari from Consumers' Research.
DOJ and the FTC on Thursday will co-host the first public meeting for President Joe Biden’s Strike Force, a multiagency effort to crack down on unfair and illegal pricing. Launched in March, the Strike Force includes the FTC, DOJ and the FCC. The agencies are focused on issues like high internet costs, junk fees and competition issues. FTC Chair Lina Khan and DOJ Antitrust Division Chief Jonathan Kanter are scheduled to speak at the meeting.
Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee ranking member Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., filed a Senate version of a Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval to undo the FCC’s April net neutrality order (Senate Joint Resolution 103) earlier this week. House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, filed a House CRA resolution in May (see 2405230021). Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., previously filed an amendment (see 2406110054) to the stalled Spectrum and National Security Act (S-4207) aimed at nullifying the net neutrality rules. The House Appropriations Committee advanced its version of the FCC-FTC FY 2025 funding bill (HR-8773) in June with a rider barring the commission from using its allocation to pay for implementation of the net neutrality order (see 2406140054).
The Senate voted 86-1 Thursday to advance two kids’ safety bills, with Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., casting the lone no vote (see 2407240057).
The Senate should pass kids’ privacy legislation without amendments, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told us Wednesday.