Cassidy, Markey, Walberg, Castor Statement Justice Department Lawsuit Against TikTok Over COPPA Violations

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) and Ed Markey (D-MA) and U.S. Representatives Tim Walberg (R-MI-05) and Kathy Castor (D-FL-15) issued the following statement on 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 (FTC) 2019 settlement with TikTok for violations of COPPA. In July, the lawmakers sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, urging the Department of Justice (DOJ) to act expeditiously on the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) referral of a complaint against TikTok for those 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."

Background

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 would update online data privacy rules for the 21st century to ensure children and teenagers are protected online. It modernizes and strengthens the only online privacy law for children, COPPA. Congress passed COPPA in 1998 to institute basic privacy protections for users under age 13, including notice and parental consent requirements. While COPPA took major steps towards safeguarding children's personal information on the internet, the law is overdue for an update in light of major changes in the online landscape.

COPPA 2.0 would:

• Build on COPPA by prohibiting internet companies from collecting personal information from users who are 13 to 16 years old without their consent;
• Ban targeted advertising to children and teens;
• Revise COPPA's "actual knowledge" standard to close the loophole that allows covered platforms to ignore kids and teens on their site;
• Create an "Eraser Button" by requiring companies to permit users to eliminate personal information from a child or teen when technologically feasible; and
• Establish data minimization rules to prohibit the excessive collection of children and teens' data.
• COPPA 2.0 is supported by over 100 organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Federation of Teachers, American Psychological Association, Center for Digital Democracy, Common Sense Media, Design It For Us, Eating Disorders Coalition for Research, Policy, & Action, Fairplay, National Education Association, National Parent Teacher Association, and U.S. PIRG.

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

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