The long-running war between TikTok and the U.S. government entered a new chapter today when the Department of Justice sued TikTok and Bytedance, the China-based owner of the social media platform.

As reported by the Washington Post, the DOJ claims that the popular video app violated child privacy laws because it collected data on Americans under the age of 13.

In its complaint, the DOJ stated that the app "makes it too easy for children under 13 to create and use TikTok accounts." For years, Defendants knowingly allowed children under the age of 13 to create and use TikTok accounts without parental knowledge or consent, collected extensive data from those children, and failed to comply with parental requests to delete their children's accounts and personal information."

This was all done in violation of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the DOJ said.

Apparently, it is very easy for children to create TikTok accounts by creating another account on Google or Instagram, and they can get past TikTok's "age restrictions."

A TikTok spokesperson told the Washington Post, "We disagree with these allegations." Many of them relate to past events or practices that are either factually untrue or have already been addressed. The company claims that it proactively removes suspected underage users and invests in screen time restrictions, parental controls, and other privacy protections for young users.

This is not the first time TikTok has been sued for such violations; before becoming TikTok, the app was known as Music.ly and, like early TikTok, focused on lip-syncing. According to the filing, Music.ly was charged $5.7 million in 2019 and ordered to remove child data and implement protective measures. The DOJ claims that TikTok reverted to violating COPPA shortly after that court order.

Nor is last year the first time TikTok has taken the brunt of the U.S. government for "child safety violations."

In late 2023, 42 states cited social media for causing psychological damage to minors, including Meth (Facebook, Instagram, Whatsup) Snapchat, ByteDance, and Alphabet (YouTube), sued many of the major companies on social media platforms, including Alphabet, Inc. This lawsuit is also ongoing.

The lawsuit is unrelated to the ongoing battle between TikTok and the U.S. government over the TikTok ban signed by President Joe Biden earlier this year. The process began in 2020 when then-President Trump attempted to enforce the ban, but it was delayed.

Of course, TikTok challenged the ban, arguing that it violated the First Amendment. Last week, the Washington Post reported that the Justice Department responded that Americans have no "First Amendment rights against TikTok." The status of this lawsuit is pending to go through the U.S. court system, a process that could take years.