Calling on FTC for Inquiry Into Whether TikTok Broke Child Privacy Laws

Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) and Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party called for a federal inquiry into whether TikTok violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, other laws, or its own terms of service when the company fed deceptive information to American children and used them to lobby Congress.

In a last-ditch effort to kill bipartisan national security legislation, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Application Act, TikTok pushed a message containing verifiably false information in a deceptive pop-up to many users on the platform. The message deceived users by calling the bill a TikTok ban, when the bipartisan bill (and now law) does not ban TikTok. It allows TikTok’s continued operation in the United States as long as the platform is not owned by ByteDance or another company controlled by a foreign adversary.

TikTok’s deceptive pop-up compelled users, including children who appeared to be under the age of 13, to share their zip code and call Congress on TikTok’s behalf, using TikTok’s false information in an attempt to influence the legislative process. There were reports of American children using TikTok’s false information to call members of Congress and threaten to commit suicide if the legislative effort continued.

In the letter to FTC Chairwoman Kahn, the lawmakers write, “TikTok has previously violated children’s data privacy laws. We are gravely concerned that an app controlled by the Chinese Communist Party appears to have the unfettered ability to manipulate the American public, including America’s children.”

They continue, “Notably, there is public reporting that TikTok’s campaign impacted ‘young children in classrooms’ and others who appeared to be under the age of 13. The solicitation of children using deceptive and inflammatory information resulted in at least one instance of threatened self-harm, with a Congressional office reporting a call from a child threatening suicide in response to TikTok’s false message that the app would be ‘ban[ned].’”

Chairman Moolenaar and Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi request that the FTC investigate:

• Whether TikTok pushed deceptive pop-up messages to children under the age of 13 in violation of COPPA, including whether TikTok sent the message on its “TikTok for Younger Users” application and, if not, how TikTok’s controls failed to prevent seemingly large numbers of children receiving a prompt that TikTok alleges it only targeted toward adult users.
• Whether TikTok pushed deceptive pop-up messages to minors and others on its platform in violation of its Terms of Service and Section 5 of the FTC Act.

View the lawmakers' letter to the FTC HERE or continue reading below:

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Dear Chair Khan,

We write to request that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) examine whether TikTok violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) or Section 5 of the FTC Act when it pushed intrusive and deceptive pop-up messages to a reportedly large number of users, including children, that requested personal information and prompted them to contact Congress in opposition to the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (“the Act”), prompting users’ phones to call offices of Members of Congress to lobby Congress on TikTok’s behalf to stop an alleged “TikTok shutdown.”

On March 7, 2024, TikTok pushed a message containing verifiably false information to a reportedly large number of its users regarding the legal implications of the Act. TikTok’s deceptive pop-up message provided a generalized script and asked its users to call Congress to lobby on its behalf. Some users reported that the only way to gain access to TikTok content was either to call Congress on TikTok’s behalf or to completely shut down and restart the application. Upon clicking the “call now” button, TikTok asked for personal information (i.e., their zip code). TikTok used this zip code to then target the prompted user’s phone call to a specific Member of Congress’ office.

Notably, there is public reporting that TikTok’s campaign impacted “young children in classrooms” and others who appeared to be under the age of 13.5 The solicitation of children using deceptive and inflammatory information resulted in at least one instance of threatened self-harm, with a Congressional office reporting a call from a child threatening suicide.

TikTok has previously violated children’s data privacy laws. In fact, TikTok is subject to a 2019 consent decree with the FTC regarding precisely such matters. We are gravely concerned that an app controlled by the Chinese Communist Party appears to have the unfettered ability to manipulate the American public, including America’s children.

We therefore request that the FTC examine:

• Whether TikTok pushed deceptive pop-up messages to children under the age of 13 in violation of COPPA, including whether TikTok sent the message on its “TikTok for Younger Users” application and, if not, how TikTok’s controls failed to prevent seemingly large numbers of children receiving a prompt that TikTok alleges it only targeted toward adult users.
• Whether TikTok pushed deceptive pop-up messages to minors and others on its platform in violation of its Terms of Service and Section 5 of the FTC Act.

In addition, we would welcome the opportunity for Select Committee staff to be privately briefed regarding the FTC’s consent decree with TikTok regarding its past violations of COPPA.