Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against TikTok for violating the Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment (SCOPE) Act by sharing minors’ personal identifying information without parental consent and failing to provide parents with tools to manage their children’s account privacy settings. The lawsuit seeks civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation and injunctive relief to prevent future violations. TikTok is accused of prioritizing profit over the online safety and privacy of Texas children.
The lawsuit seeks civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation of the SCOPE Act and injunctive relief requiring TikTok to comply with the Act’s requirements to protect minors’ personal data and provide parents with tools to manage their children’s account privacy settings.
In-house legal teams should review all vendor agreements with social media platforms or entities that collect personal data from minors to ensure compliance with the Texas SCOPE Act and other state parental consent laws. Clauses governing data sharing, disclosure, or sale of personal information must explicitly require parental consent for minors’ data, and vendors should be contractually obligated to provide parents with tools to manage privacy and account settings for minor users. Contracts should also include indemnification for civil penalties up to $10,000 per violation and injunctive relief resulting from non-compliance with children’s data privacy regulations.
Entity
TikTok
Industry
Social MediaOfficial Press Release
https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-ken-paxton-sues-tiktok-sharing-minors-personal-data-violation-texas-parental
TikTok Original Petition Filestamped
https://oag.texas.gov/sites/default/files/images/press/TikTok%20Original%20Petition%20Filestamped.pdf
Texas Attorney General Enforcement Page
https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/consumer-protection/privacy
"TikTok, one of the largest social media platforms"
"Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment (“SCOPE”) Act"
"Violation of Texas Parental Consent Law"
"sharing, disclosing, or selling a minor’s personal identifying information without permission from the child’s parent or legal guardian"
"provide parents with tools to manage and control the privacy and account settings on their child’s account"
"seeking civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation and injunctive relief to prevent future violations of the SCOPE Act by TikTok"
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against TikTok for deceptively promoting its app as safe for children despite the prevalence of inappropriate and explicit content. The action alleges violations of the SCOPE Act, which protects children's online privacy, and follows a previous lawsuit regarding data privacy issues.
New York Attorney General Letitia James and California Attorney General Rob Bonta led a bipartisan coalition of 14 attorneys general in filing lawsuits against TikTok on October 8, 2024, alleging the platform harmed children’s mental health through addictive features and violated COPPA by collecting and monetizing data from users under 13 without parental consent. The lawsuits seek to halt TikTok’s harmful practices, impose financial penalties including disgorgement of profits from illegal practices, and secure damages for affected users. TikTok is also accused of misrepresenting the effectiveness of its safety tools and failing to warn users about harms from dangerous viral challenges and beauty filters.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong announced that a coalition of 22 attorneys general is escalating efforts to force TikTok to comply with a multistate investigation into harm to youth mental health. TikTok has failed to fully comply with court orders to preserve evidence and produce documents, impeding the investigation. The coalition is urging a Tennessee court to enforce its orders.
New Jersey is co-leading a multistate investigation into TikTok to determine if the platform violates consumer protection laws by using techniques that increase engagement among young users, potentially causing mental and physical harm. The investigation will examine what TikTok knows about these harms to children, teenagers, and young adults.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong requested a meeting with TikTok leadership to address the harmful impact of viral challenges like 'Devious Licks' and 'Slap a Teacher' on student and educator safety. The AG criticized TikTok's enforcement of its terms of service and urged reforms to prevent the spread of dangerous content.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton launched an investigation into Meta's Meta AI Glasses over allegations of unlawful facial biometric data collection, deceptive privacy practices, and unauthorized sharing of user data with subcontractors. The investigation follows concerns that the glasses' always-on recording mode lacks proper user notice, planned facial recognition features would collect data without consent, and private user videos are accessed by third-party annotators in Kenya. The AG issued a Civil Investigative Demand to Meta to determine violations of Texas privacy laws.