Central Louisiana News

U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) and Edward Markey (D-MA), along with U.S. Representatives Tim Walberg (R-MI-05) and Kathy Castor (D-FL-14), have called on the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to review a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) referral concerning TikTok's potential violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The lawmakers are concerned about TikTok's compliance with COPPA and a 2019 FTC settlement.

"Five years later, according to the FTC, TikTok is still failing to comply with COPPA," wrote the lawmakers. "According to the FTC, '[t]he 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.' DOJ is now charged with reviewing that referral and determining whether to file a complaint on behalf of the Commission."

The legislators emphasized the importance of protecting children's online privacy and urged swift action from the DOJ. "Given TikTok’s previous violations of COPPA and the critical need to protect children’s online privacy, we urge the Department to expeditiously investigate these allegations and take all necessary action to protect children’s online privacy," they continued.

Last year, Cassidy and Markey reintroduced COPPA 2.0, legislation aimed at updating online data privacy rules for children and teenagers. Earlier this year, Walberg and Castor introduced a House companion bill for COPPA 2.0. Additionally, Cassidy is leading an investigation into TikTok's impact on Louisiana schools and its role in rising antisemitism.

In their letter addressed to Attorney General Garland, they stated: "We write to urge the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to act expeditiously on the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC or Commission) referral of a complaint against TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance Ltd."

They highlighted ongoing concerns regarding youth mental health: "Given the ongoing youth mental health crisis — which the Surgeon General labeled an 'emergency' in June — the DOJ should thoroughly review the FTC referral and, if it determines that TikTok violated COPPA, quickly take action to remedy those violations."

The lawmakers recalled that in 2019, Musical.ly—now known as TikTok—settled with the FTC for $5.7 million over similar allegations. The settlement was based on claims that Musical.ly knowingly collected personal information from child users without parental consent.

The FTC recently referred another complaint against TikTok following an investigation into its compliance with COPPA since 2019. The Commission noted: "[t]he investigation uncovered reason to believe named defendants are violating or are about to violate the law." The DOJ is now tasked with reviewing this referral.

"Given TikTok’s previous violations of COPPA and the critical need to protect children’s online privacy," reiterated lawmakers in their letter, urging prompt action from DOJ.