US Trade Commission investigates TikTok and could take it to trial

NEW YORK (AP) — The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is investigating TikTok’s handling of data and security, an investigation that could culminate in an out-of-court settlement or a lawsuit against the social network, according to with a person familiar with the matter.

This investigation is the latest front opened in Washington to the social network, the target of a federal bill that could ban it in the United States if it does not break relations with its parent company ByteDance, based in Beijing.

The FTC is looking into whether TikTok violated provisions of a federal law prohibiting “unfair and deceptive” business practices by denying that people in China had access to U.S. users’ data, said the source, who was not authorized to speak about the matter. investigation.

It is also investigating whether there was a violation of the child privacy protection law, which requires applications and websites to obtain parental consent before collecting information about children under 13 years of age.

FTC spokeswoman Nicole Drayton and TikTok declined to comment on the investigation, which was first reported by the online magazine Politico.

The agency is close to concluding its investigation and could reach a settlement with TikTok in the coming weeks, but there are no timelines for that, the source said.

If the FTC opted for a trial, it would have to refer the case to the Department of Justice, which would have 45 days to decide whether to sue on behalf of the FTC, make changes, or return it to the commission for action. your account.

Nearly two years ago, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner and the committee’s top Republican, Marco Rubio, urged FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan to investigate TikTok, citing a Buzzfeed report. News that ByteDance employees in China had repeatedly accessed data from American users of the social network.

In late 2022, ByteDance said it fired four employees who had accessed data from Buzzfeed News and the Financial Times newspaper while trying to track a leak of sensitive data about the company.