Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton appealed against TikTok, claiming the company violated the state’s new child privacy law. This will be the first test of Texas’ Online Child Support through Parent Empowerment (MAIN) Act since it took effect more than a month ago.
According to the law, which parts were A federal judge’s ruling requires social media platforms to verify the age of minor users and offer parental control features, including the ability for parents to opt out of their children’s data collection.
Paxton argues that TikTok’s existing parental control features are inadequate. “However, Defendants do not provide parents or guardians of users known to be between the ages of 13 and 17 with parental tools that allow them to monitor or restrict most of the minors’ privacy and account settings,” the lawsuit states. . “For example, parents or guardians do not have the ability to control Defendants’ sharing, disclosure, or sale of personally identifiable information about a known minor, nor can they control Defendants’ ability to display advertising directed to a known minor.”
The lawsuit also claims that the app’s “Family Pairing” tool is not “commercially reasonable” because it requires parents to create their own TikTok account, and teenagers are free to refuse their parents’ requests to set up the monitoring tool. TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Program Most targeted advertising to anyone under 18.
The lawsuit adds to TikTok’s growing legal troubles in the US. The company is currently fighting a law that could result in the app being banned entirely in the US. It also faces a separate Justice Department related to children’s privacy.
