FTC: TikTok Complaint Goes to Justice Dept

The Federal Trade Commission said on Tuesday that it is referring the complaint against TikTok to the Department of Justice

On Tuesday, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it had forwarded its complaint against TikTok and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Following a 2019 settlement with Musical.ly, the predecessor to TikTok, which was associated with violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the FTC initiated its investigation—the settlement.

The FTC investigated whether TikTok had violated a federal law prohibiting “unfair and deceptive” business practices.

The regulator stated that it is transferring the case to the DOJ due to the investigation, which “uncovered reason to believe that named defendants are violating or are about to violate the law.”

“Although the Commission does not typically make public the fact that it has referred a complaint, we have determined that doing so here is in the public interest and that a proceeding is in the public interest,” the Federal Trade Commission stated.

During a Senate hearing in January, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew disclosed that the company employs approximately 40,000 individuals in its trust and safety operations.

However, he also stated that he was unaware of the number of juveniles using social media platforms.

TikTok did not prompt; it should have been a request for comment.

In the United States, the organization encounters additional obstacles.

TikTok filed a lawsuit against the United States government in May following the signing of legislation by President Joe Biden.

The legislation grants ByteDance nine months to identify a buyer and a three-month extension if a transaction is in progress. The short-form video application may be prohibited in the absence of an agreement.

According to a legal filing, TikTok asserted that the measure violates the First Amendment and that divestiture is “simply not possible” in terms of commercial, technological, and legal considerations.