Federal Trade Commission

The operators of the video social networking app Musical.ly, now known as TikTok, have agreed to pay $5.7 million to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that the company illegally collected personal information from children. This is the largest civil penalty ever obtained by the Commission in a children’s privacy case. The Musical.ly app allowed users to create short videos lip-syncing to music and share those videos with other users.

The Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition announced the creation of a task force dedicated to monitoring competition in US technology markets, investigating any potential anticompetitive conduct in those markets, and taking enforcement actions when warranted. The approximately 17 task force members, who will join the task force from divisions within the Bureau, will include attorneys with unique expertise in complex product and service markets and ecosystems, including markets for online advertising, social networking, mobile operating systems and apps, and platform businesses.

Staff from the Federal Trade Commission responded to the Department of Commerce, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Request for Comment on “Developing the Administration’s Approach to Consumer Privacy.” The comments outline the agency’s experience protecting consumers’ privacy through enforcement, education, and policy work.

Staff of the Federal Trade Commission called for a balanced approach that protects both consumer privacy and innovation in a comment submitted to the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) as part of that agency’s consumer privacy proceeding. FTC staff noted the FTC's extensive experience in protecting consumer privacy and fostering innovation. The FTC is uniquely situated to balance consumers’ interests in privacy, innovation, and competition, according to the comment.