What DOJ should do about Children’s Online Safety: The Case against TikTok, ByteDance, and KOSA

Many of the claims made by the DOJ relate to past events or practices that have been addressed, according to the company. We are proud of our efforts to protect children, and we will continue to update and improve the platform. To that end, we offer age-appropriate experiences with stringent safeguards and have launched features such as Default screen time limits, Family Pairing, and privacy protections for Minors.

The case against TikTok is related to the US government’s national security concerns over ByteDance, the service’s Chinese owners. Some officials and legislators in the US are concerned about China taking advantage of TikTok to spread propaganda and gather data on vulnerable Americans. TikTok has refuted the concerns as baseless fear-mongering and is fighting a law that requires it to seek new ownership.

The Kids Online Safety Act, or KOSA, has been considered by the US congress this year. The proposed measure, which passed the Senate earlier this week, would require services like TikTok to better control kids’ usage. Detractors have said it would unfairly cut off some young populations, such as transgender kids, from vital support networks. The fate of KOSA is not certain. The case against TikTok shows that even stricter rules may not stop companies from doing what they have always done.