Central Louisiana News

U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) and Ed Markey (D-MA), along with U.S. Representatives Tim Walberg (R-MI-05) and Kathy Castor (D-FL-15), issued a statement regarding the U.S. Department of Justice’s complaint against TikTok for potential violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the Federal Trade Commission’s 2019 settlement with TikTok for COPPA violations.

In July, the lawmakers sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, urging the Department of Justice to act swiftly on the Federal Trade Commission’s referral of a complaint against TikTok for these alleged violations.

“We commend the Justice Department for moving quickly to hold TikTok accountable for its disregard of children on its platform,” said the lawmakers. “The allegations in the complaint are outrageous. With TikTok already under an FTC consent decree due to COPPA violations, it is deeply concerning that the company is still violating children’s privacy. That is unacceptable. This lawsuit demonstrates that COPPA remains critical for protecting children’s online privacy, and further makes clear the need for Congress to extend these protections to teenagers and modernize COPPA by passing our COPPA 2.0 legislation.”

The U.S. Senate passed COPPA 2.0 as part of the Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act by a vote of 91-3 in July. COPPA 2.0 aims to update online data privacy rules for children and teenagers, strengthening protections initially established by COPPA in 1998.

COPPA was enacted to provide basic privacy protections for users under age 13, including notice and parental consent requirements. However, given significant changes in the online landscape, an update is considered necessary.

In April, Representatives Walberg and Castor introduced the House companion to COPPA 2.0. In February, Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Ted Cruz (R-TX), Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee respectively, agreed to cosponsor COPPA 2.0. Last summer, this committee unanimously passed COPPA 2.0.

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