FORT LAUDERDALE — Another class action lawsuit has been filed against TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, alleging that the social media giant illegally collects and sells personal data from millions of minor children without parental consent.
The lawsuit, brought by plaintiff Michael Luong on behalf of his child and other similarly affected minors, accuses TikTok of violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by failing to notify parents and obtain their consent before gathering sensitive personal information from users under 13 years old, according to the complaint filed March 14 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
According to the complaint, TikTok collects a wide range of data from children, including names, ages, profile images, passwords, email addresses, phone numbers, approximate locations, social media contacts and even messages exchanged on the platform.
The lawsuit further alleges that TikTok monetizes this data by selling access to advertisers, a practice that the plaintiffs argue is both deceptive and unlawful.
The lawsuit claims TikTok has knowingly disregarded federal protections for children’s online privacy, despite a 2019 court order intended to curb such violations.
That year, TikTok’s predecessor, Musical.ly, was found in violation of COPPA and ordered to comply with regulations requiring parental notice and consent for data collection. However, the new complaint argues that TikTok has continued these practices, failing to enforce adequate age verification measures and allowing children to bypass age restrictions to create full-access accounts.
TikTok employs an "age gate" requiring users to enter their birth date upon registration, but the lawsuit contends that the platform does little to verify this information. Internal company documents reportedly classify 18 million of TikTok’s 49 million daily U.S. users as being 14 years old or younger.
Despite this, the platform allegedly does not use its own predictive algorithms to detect underage users or prevent them from accessing full features.
The complaint further states that TikTok moderators are instructed to overlook external indicators that a user is underage unless the child explicitly states their age.
The lawsuit also highlights that TikTok profits significantly from its alleged violations. In 2023 alone, the company reported $16 billion in U.S. revenue, with a large portion coming from targeted advertising.
The complaint alleges that TikTok’s sophisticated algorithm collects personal information from children to serve them tailored advertisements, a direct violation of COPPA’s restrictions on data collection from minors.
This is not the first time TikTok has faced legal scrutiny over its data practices.
The U.S. Department of Justice filed a separate lawsuit in August 2024, accusing the company of illegally collecting children's data, failing to honor parental requests to delete accounts, and refusing to remove profiles of underage users even when evidence of their age was clear.
The class action seeks damages and injunctive relief, aiming to force TikTok to stop its alleged unlawful data collection and provide greater transparency about its practices. The plaintiff is represented by Joseph A. Osborne and J. Robert Bell III of Osborne & Francis Law Firm in Boca Raton.
Attorneys for the plaintiff declined to comment further on the case.
Similar lawsuits have also been filed in West Virginia and Louisiana.
In the West Virginia lawsuit, which was filed on March 4 by Amanda Hinkle on behalf of her 9-year-old daughter, the complaint accuses ByteDance and its subsidiaries of breaching COPPA and the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act.
The suit claims TikTok gathers and sells minors’ data, including names, ages, locations and contact information, without proper notification to parents.
West Virginia Attorney Troy Giatras argues that TikTok has continued its data collection practices despite a 2019 injunction against its predecessor, Musical.ly.
U.S. District Court fo the Southern District of Florida case number: 0:25-cv-60498