Twenty US consumer groups, including the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood and the Center for Digital Democracy, have complained to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that TikTok has flouted an agreement to protect the privacy of children on its platform. In 2019, TikTok agreed to make changes to its platform, and settle charges of children's privacy violations on Musical.ly, their predecessor company.
In their complaint, the consumer groups shared several videos posted in 2016 by children under 13 that were still available on the app, as well as problems related to age identification of children below 13.