TikTok reaches $400M settlement over children’s privacy lawsuit
TikTok reaches $400M settlement over children’s privacy lawsuit
TikTok 就儿童隐私诉讼达成 4 亿美元和解协议
TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, have reached a $400 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to resolve allegations that the social media platform violated federal laws designed to protect children’s online privacy. TikTok 及其母公司字节跳动已与美国司法部（DOJ）达成 4 亿美元的和解协议，以解决该社交媒体平台违反旨在保护儿童在线隐私的联邦法律的指控。
The case stems from a lawsuit first filed in 2024 by the DOJ under the Biden administration. The DOJ alleged that TikTok violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by allowing millions of children under the age of 13 to use the platform, while also collecting their personal information without the required parental consent. 该案件源于拜登政府领导下的司法部于 2024 年首次提起的诉讼。司法部指控 TikTok 违反了《儿童在线隐私保护法》（COPPA），允许数百万 13 岁以下的儿童使用该平台，并在未经必要家长同意的情况下收集他们的个人信息。
In addition to paying $400 million, the settlement includes measures intended to strengthen protections for young users. Those changes include stronger age-related controls, additional safeguards for children, and measures designed to give parents enhanced oversight of their children’s activity and personal information. However, the agreement does not require TikTok or ByteDance to admit wrongdoing. Axios was the first to report the news. 除了支付 4 亿美元外，该和解协议还包括旨在加强对年轻用户保护的措施。这些变更包括更严格的年龄相关控制、针对儿童的额外保障措施，以及旨在让家长加强对其子女活动和个人信息监管的措施。然而，该协议并不要求 TikTok 或字节跳动承认不当行为。Axios 最先报道了这一消息。
The 2024 case alleged that TikTok allowed large numbers of children to remain on the platform for years, despite already facing federal action over children’s privacy in 2019. The company agreed to pay $5.7 million to settle allegations that its predecessor, Musical.ly, had violated COPPA. As part of that agreement, the company committed to taking steps to prevent children under 13 from creating accounts. 2024 年的案件指控称，尽管 TikTok 在 2019 年已因儿童隐私问题面临联邦诉讼，但仍允许大量儿童在平台上停留多年。当时，该公司同意支付 570 万美元，以和解其前身 Musical.ly 违反 COPPA 的指控。作为该协议的一部分，该公司承诺采取措施防止 13 岁以下儿童创建账户。
According to the allegations, however, TikTok continued to struggle to identify and remove underage users. The case alleged that the company maintained and used information belonging to children, including data that could be used for targeted advertising, even after employees raised concerns about the presence of young users on the platform. It also alleged that TikTok changed aspects of its registration policies in ways that made it more difficult to determine whether users were old enough to join the service. 然而，据指控称，TikTok 在识别和移除未成年用户方面持续存在困难。案件指控称，即使在员工对平台上存在年轻用户表示担忧后，该公司仍保留并使用了属于儿童的信息，包括可用于定向广告的数据。此外，指控还称，TikTok 修改了其注册政策的某些方面，使得判断用户是否达到加入服务所需的年龄变得更加困难。
The agreement comes as TikTok faces more scrutiny over its approach to user safety. Just days before the settlement, Bloomberg reported that TikTok had intentionally disabled an algorithmic safeguard for roughly 10% of U.S. users as part of an experiment. The safeguard was designed to reduce the possibility that users would be overwhelmed by harmful or potentially damaging content. 该协议达成之际，TikTok 正因其用户安全处理方式面临更多审查。在和解协议达成前几天，彭博社报道称，TikTok 作为实验的一部分，故意对约 10% 的美国用户禁用了某种算法保障措施。该保障措施旨在降低用户被有害或潜在破坏性内容淹没的可能性。
The report drew criticism from lawmakers. Republican senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Democratic senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut sent a letter to TikTok CEO Shou Chew and Adam Presser, the chief executive of the company’s U.S. business, questioning the decision. 该报道引发了立法者的批评。田纳西州共和党参议员玛莎·布莱克本（Marsha Blackburn）和康涅狄格州民主党参议员理查德·布卢门撒尔（Richard Blumenthal）致信 TikTok 首席执行官周受资（Shou Chew）及该公司美国业务首席执行官亚当·普雷瑟（Adam Presser），对这一决定提出质疑。