• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, July 2, 2024

Four bipartisan lawmakers are urging the Department of Justice to promptly review allegations by the Federal Trade Commission that TikTok may be violating the federal children's privacy law.

In a letter sent Tuesday to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, the Congress members say the Justice Department should “quickly take action” if it determines that TikTok ran afoul of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

“The FTC referral against TikTok is particularly worrisome given its history of failing to comply with COPPA,” Senators Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts), Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) and Representatives Tim Walberg (R-Michigan) and Kathy Castor (D-Florida) write.

The letter comes two weeks after the FTC took the unusual step of publicly stating it has “reason to believe” that TikTok is violating or “about to violate” COPPA, and has referred a case against the company to the Justice Department.

That law prohibits web companies from knowingly collecting personal information form children under 13, without parental consent.

In 2019, TikTok agreed to pay $5.7 million to settle an FTC complaint alleging the company violated the statute. The following year, advocacy groups including Fairplay and the Center for Digital Democracy accused TikTok of continuing to violate the children's privacy law.

The FTC said on June 18 that its referral to the Justice Department stems from a compliance review of the 2019 settlement -- as well as an investigation into additional violations of the children's privacy law and the FTC Act.

TikTok declined to comment Tuesday about the lawmakers' letter, but a company spokesperson said two weeks ago that TikTok “strongly” disagrees with the FTC's allegations, and that many of those allegations “relate to past events and practices that are factually inaccurate or have been addressed.”

"We've been working with the FTC for more than a year to address its concerns,” the spokesperson said in June. “We're disappointed the agency is pursuing litigation instead of continuing to work with us on a reasonable solution.”

News of the FTC's referral came as TikTok is challenging a new law that will ban the app nationwide unless it's sold by China-based parent company ByteDance.

Lawmakers who supported that bill expressed concerns that the Chinese government would be able to obtain data from TikTok about Americans, and that Chinese Communist Party would use the app to spread propaganda.

TikTok argues that the law violates the company's free speech rights, as well as the rights of its users, and that Congress passed the measure based on speculative concerns.