The US Justice department filed a lawsuit against TikTok and its parent company ByteDance on 2nd August, accusing TikTok of failing to protect chlidren's privacy. The lawsiut is a part of the Biden adminstration's efforts to address its concerns regarding TikTok's data practices and its implications on national security. 

It is alleged that TikTok violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by collecting personal information from users under 13. While the information so collected is without parental consent. TikTok which has nearly 170 million users in the US itself, is also facing addtional pressure from a new law that would require ByteDance to divest TikTok's US assets by 19 January,2025 or face a ban. The lawsuit adds to TikTok's mounting legal woes.

In the meanwhile the Federal Trade Commssion (FTC) too has joined the lawsuit, seeking penalties that could amount to billions of dollars if TikTok is found liable for the alleged privacy violations. TikTok has responded to the allegations by disputing the claims. TikTok has contended that most of the concerns relate to the past conduct that are either factually incorrect or have already been addressed. 

In the meanwhile the US Senate passed a bill extending COPPA to cover teenagers upto age 17. COPPA has banned targeted advertising to minors and permiting parents and children to delete their personal information from social media platforms. The Bill now awits approval from the Republican controlled House, which is on recess untill Sepetmebr 2024.

In the meanwhile, bowing to pressure from European Regulators, EU, TikTok has decided to permanently remove a feature in a spinoff app in France and Spain that rewards users for watching and liking videos. EU took a stand that TikTok's 'reward programme' could have very 'addictive consequences'. TikTok made commitments to remove the 'reward programme' from 27 country EU bloc and assured that they will not launch any other programme which would circumvent the withdrawal.