Texas AG sues TikTok for allegedly sharing personal data of minors
State law requires social media companies to take steps to protect kids online
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The Texas attorney general filed a lawsuit against the social media platform TikTok this week for allegedly sharing the personal data of minors, which violates the state’s parental consent law known as the Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment (SCOPE) Act.
The SCOPE Act was created in Texas to protect minors from the harmful, deceptive and unfair trade practices of some digital services and prohibits digital service providers, like TikTok, from sharing, disclosing or selling a minor’s personal information without the consent of the minor’s parents or guardian.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton alleges in a lawsuit filed against TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, that it is operating a platform in a manner that puts the online safety and privacy of Texas children at risk.
"I will continue to hold TikTok and other Big Tech companies accountable for exploiting Texas children and failing to prioritize minors’ online safety and privacy," Paxton said in a news release Thursday. "Texas law requires social media companies to take steps to protect kids online and requires them to provide parents with tools to do the same. TikTok and other social media companies cannot ignore their duties under Texas law."
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against Chinese-owned TikTok for allegedly sharing data of minors. (Justin Lane-Pool/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Paxton has accused the social media platform of failing to use a commercially reasonable method for a parent or guardian to verify their identity, claiming TikTok’s "Family Pairing" method does not verify their identity or relationship with a minor.
"Even if Defendant verifies a parent’s identity and relationship to a minor, Defendant’s pairing method would still not be commercially reasonable," the lawsuit reads. "Specifically, Defendant’s Family Pairing method gives a known minor sole discretion to accept or deny their parent or guardian access to the parental tools."
Paxton also said in the lawsuit the pairing method "unnecessarily" requires a parent or guardian to create an account before getting access to the pairing tools.
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Paxton accuses TikTok of failing to create and provide parental tools for accounts of known minors. (Getty Images)
The lawsuit also alleges that TikTok unlawfully shares, discloses and sells known minors’ personal identifying information without first obtaining permission from the verified parent.
Specifically, the lawsuit used the example of a minor’s name or username, saying if a person uses TikTok to search for the account of a known minor whose account is set to "public," TikTok will share and disclose the minor’s personal identifying information like name, username, profile image, social media contacts and user content.
TikTok is owned by Chinese company ByteDance. (Illustration by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images / Getty Images)
The third count Paxton accuses TikTok of violating is that it failed to create and provide parental tools for accounts of known minors.
Under the SCOPE Act, digital service providers must create and provide parental tools that allow a verified parent to supervise, monitor and limit the minor’s use, privacy and account settings.
FOX Business has reached out to TikTok for comment.
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Paxton demanded a trial by jury with fines of $10,000 for each count. He also seeks injunctive relief to prevent further violations of the SCOPE Act by the social media company.