According to Engadget, the state of Texas accused TikTok of violating child privacy laws on October 4. The lawsuit is the first test of Texas' SCOPE Act, a new law aimed at ensuring children's safety online.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against TikTok, alleging that the company violates the Children's Online Protection Through Empowerment of Parents (SCOPE) Act. This is the first lawsuit since the law took effect more than a month ago.
Under the law, social media platforms must verify the age of young users and provide parental controls, including the ability to opt out of having their children's data collected.
Paxton alleges that TikTok’s current controls fall short. “Defendants fail to provide parents or guardians of users ages 13 to 17 with tools that allow them to control or limit most of their minors’ privacy and account settings,” the lawsuit states. Specifically, parents cannot control TikTok’s sharing, disclosure, and sale of minors’ personal information, nor can they prevent targeted advertising.
Additionally, Mr. Paxton criticized TikTok's "Family Pairing" tool, saying it was not "commercially reasonable" because it required parents to have TikTok accounts and children could decline parental requests.
TikTok did not immediately respond to the incident, but issued a statement denying the allegations, insisting its protections for children and parents are strong.
The lawsuit is just one of several legal troubles TikTok is facing in the U.S. In addition to the Texas lawsuit, the company is also facing a lawsuit from the Department of Justice over children's privacy, and could face an outright ban in the U.S.
