In a new legal battle, the US government has filed a lawsuit against popular social media platform TikTok, accusing the company of unlawfully collecting children's data and failing to respond when parents attempted to delete their children's accounts. The Department of Justice has labeled TikTok's practices as a "massive-scale" invasion of child privacy, in violation of laws that require parental consent for gathering information from users under 13 years old. This is not the first time TikTok and its parent company ByteDance have faced such accusations, with a similar case brought against them in 2019.

TikTok, however, has vehemently disputed the claims and stated that it takes pride in its efforts to protect children. The company asserted that it actively removes underage users and has voluntarily implemented safeguards like default screen-time limits and additional privacy protections for minors. A spokesperson for TikTok said, "We disagree with these allegations, many of which pertain to past events and inaccurate information. We are proud of our efforts to protect children, and we will continue to enhance our platform."

The lawsuit intensifies the already mounting pressure on TikTok and ByteDance, as they face ongoing disputes with the US government over a law that threatens to ban the app from the country. The filing accuses TikTok of implementing inadequate measures to screen for accounts created by children and obstructing parents when they attempted to delete these accounts. According to the complaint, a review of 1,700 requests made by parents to cancel accounts between 2019 and 2020 found that 30% were still active as of November 2021.

The filing further reveals that moderators responsible for reviewing accounts flagged as underage were only authorized to take action if they saw explicit admission of a child's age, and their access to user videos was limited. These moderators were also given only a brief window of a few seconds to make decisions about the accounts. As a result, the US government is seeking a court order to halt TikTok's activities and impose penalties for each violation.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton, who heads the Justice Department's Civil Division, emphasized the necessity of this action, stating, "This action is necessary to prevent the defendants, who have a history of repeat offenses and operate on a massive scale, from collecting and using young children's private information without any parental consent or control."

TikTok, with over 1 billion users globally and more than 170 million in the US alone, is one of the world's most popular social media platforms. Surveys conducted by Pew Research reveal that over 60% of US teenagers aged 13-17 use TikTok, with more than half of them accessing the platform on a daily basis. The lawsuit filed by the US government aims to put an end to what it alleges as TikTok's unlawful and massive invasion of children's privacy.

Notably, TikTok has also faced fines in the UK and Europe for similar privacy concerns. The impact of excessive screen time on teenagers has also come to light, with Violet, a 14-year-old user, sharing her experience of limiting her time on the app after spending up to 10 hours a day scrolling on her phone. Additionally, the platform's influence in the literary world is evident through the engagement of more than 80,000 TikTok users who voted for their favorite authors, books, and #BookTok creators.

As the legal battle unfolds, the outcome of this lawsuit will have significant implications for both TikTok and the broader landscape of social media platforms, especially regarding the protection of children's privacy and the responsibility of online companies to uphold parental consent protocols.