Laredo, Texas.- Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued TikTok for sharing and selling personal information of minorswhich violates a new state law that seeks to protect girls, boys and adolescents who participate in social networks.
In accordance with the Children’s Online Protection through Parental Empowerment Act, is prohibited to social media companies share or sell personal information of a minor unless a parent or guardian approves. This law in Texas came into effect on September 1 and seeks that technology companies develop more effective tools so that parents can supervise their children’s activity.
For example, TikTok has a “family pairing” feature, which allows parents to link their account with their child and set controls; However, Paxton alleges that a “commercially reasonable method” is not used to verify the identity of the parents as required by law.
Additionally, the Texas attorney general points out in the lawsuit that the short video platform illegally shares and sells personal information of minors to third partiesincluding advertisers and search engines, and illegally displays advertising aimed at minors.
“I will continue to hold TikTok and other big tech companies accountable for exploiting Texas children and failing to prioritize children’s online safety and privacy. Texas law requires social media companies to take steps to protect children online and requires them to provide parents with tools to do the same. “TikTok and other social media companies cannot ignore their obligations under Texas law,” Paxton said in a statement.
According to Houston Public Media, a TikTok spokesperson denied Paxton’s allegations and noted that there is information online about how parents in certain states, such as Texas, can contact the social network to request that their child’s account be deleted.
“We strongly disagree with these allegations and, in fact, offer strong safeguards for teens and parents, including family matching, all of which are publicly available,” TikTok spokesperson Jason Grosse wrote in an emailed statement.
For now, we will have to wait to find out how the lawsuit filed in a federal district court in Galveston proceeds, while, in turn, the legal battle continues over the constitutionality of the aforementioned law, whose validity is partially blocked for now.
