Four senators of the United States which include a so-called "China hawk" on Friday pressed the Federal Trade Commission to probe accusations that the famous social media app, TikTok has violated a consent ruling that protects the privacy of children.

According to an article by Reuters, lawmakers, in their letter, noted a report which Campaign for Commercial-Free Childhood, Center for Digital Democracy and others, made. Specifically, the report stated that the Chinese-owned tech company "had failed to remove videos which children below 13 years old made" when, in fact, under a 2019 consent agreement, it agreed with the federal.

Additionally, the report also indicated that TikTok was unable to send parents the "'direct notice' of data practices" before it collects information on children. More so, the video-posting-and-sharing app failed to put a link too, to its privacy policy on its home page which the US Children's Online Privacy Protection Act or COPPA earlier required. Also according to the letter, faced with convincing proofs that the "wildly popular social media platform" is deliberately breaking the privacy rules of the US and that FTC should make a quick move to launch a probe and powerfully hold the violators liable.

The letter was signed by Democratic Senators Richard Blumenthal and Ed Markey, who was also a COPPA author. It was also signed by Republican Senators Marsha Blackburn and Josh Hawley, who is also a known critic of China and social media

TikTok's Stance

Meanwhile, in an email from TikTok, the company's spokeswoman said, the Chinese firm is taking the "issue of safety seriously for all our users."

This is not the first time TikTok is being put on the hot seat because of children's privacy. Early last year, the company was asked to pay more than $5.5 million over alleged violations of children's privacy law. In response to the issue, the trust and safety team of the social media firm issued a statement saying they already took additional measures to augment the safety and protection of kids below 13 years old.

More so, TikTok also said it was launching a "separate in-app experience for children under 13 years old," that would place, it added, extensive restrictions on the content being posted, as well as interaction among the users.

Also in its February 2019 statement, TikTok said, "In the younger ecosystem," users are not allowed to do things such as sharing of their videos on the platform, commenting on other users' videos, exchanging messages with others, or "keeping a profile or followers."

Pressed for More Information

Aside from the senators mentioned, 14 other Democrats on the US House Energy and Commerce Committee have also pressed the federal via a letter to open an investigation of the popular app. Meanwhile, two other Republicans under the same committee wrote directly to TikTok pressing for further information about how it collects information and children, as well as its connections to the Chinese government.

The said letter from the Republicans was addressed to TikTok founder and chief executive, Zhang Yiming. Incidentally, Tiktok is owned by ByteDance, the digital information, and entertainment company based in Beijing, China.

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