Portuguese NGO files lawsuits against TikTok for ‘profiting from children’

Ius Omnibus, a non-profit European consumer protection group based in Portugal, have filed two class action lawsuits against short form video app TikTok in the Lisbon court, accusing it of allowing children under the age of 13 to create an account despite its terms and conditions, and not taking measures to prevent it.

As reported by Reuters, the group claims that the ByteDance-owned company violates personal rights, the EU General Regulation on Data Protection, and the unfair commercial practices law by collecting and processing personal data of children.

It exposes them to ‘’dangers to their moral, psychological and physical integrity and to their safety and health, as well as to the intimacy of their private and family life”, Ius Omnibu states.

In the other lawsuit, the group said that users that are older than 13 are also victims of TikTok’s ‘’misleading business practices’’, and that the company uses their personal data without getting their full consent.

“TikTok profits from children under the age of 13, taking advantage of their particular vulnerability,” the group said in a statement, asking the court to ‘’put an end to the unlawful conduct’’ and require the company to offer financial compensation to those that have been impacted.

The news comes just a day after the Information Commissioner’s Office of the UK fined TikTok £12.7 million over similar allegations, such as allowing kids under 13 to create an account as well as misusing their personal data.