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A 12-year-old from England has been granted anonymity to possibly fight TikTok in court

There’s no lawsuit yet, but it could be coming.

by
Josiah Motley
January 4, 2021

Image: KnowTechie

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TikTok is obviously no stranger to legal action, considering everything going on with the company in the US, but now a new case might be forming in the EU and UK.

The girl, who recently won the right to remain anonymous, is concerned over how TikTok uses data from children 16 and younger to target them with ads and create ad profiles of minors. Anne Longfield, the children’s commissioner for England, wants a suit to lead to greater protections for minors on the platform.

It should be noted that TikTok requires users to be 13 or older to use the platform, but that doesn’t stop younger children from creating accounts.

According to the BBC, the girl is waiting to see how a data protection case against Google turns out before taking the suit further.

So, why the anonymity? Because people are terrible. She is worried that bringing such a suit to court could result in cyberbullying and “hostile reactions from social media influencers who might feel their status or earnings were under threat.”

TikTok has come out with a statement regarding the possible lawsuit, “Privacy and safety are top priorities for TikTok and we have robust policies, processes and technologies in place to protect all users, and our younger users in particular.”

What do you think? Do you believe there is a case here? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.