Procedures against suffered damage from TikTok

Several Dutch organizations have initiated proceedings against TikTok. Two of the three foundations may have an invalid claim. TikTok's lawyers indicate that the foundations have not adhered to legal deadlines.

This article was published on 8th October 2021 on Emerce. Please find the English translation below.

There is a risk that the two foundations will not be able to continue their cases. Only Foundation SOMI's claim meets the legal requirements.

After SOMI  summoned TikTok in June for an amount of 1.4 billion euros due to large-scale privacy violations, the Take Back Your Privacy foundation (supported by the Consumers' Association) and the Stichting Massaschade & Consument (Mass Damage & Consumer Foundation) also filed damage claims.

The two cases are largely similar to the case that SOMI has started. The three cases are now being heard simultaneously by the court.

TikTok's lawyers have argued that Take Back Your Privacy and Stichting Massaschade & Consument have not adhered to a statutory period of three months and that their subpoenas are therefore null and void. As a result, the two foundations may have to reissue their subpoenas and delay the case by at least three months.

The court may also decide that the two foundations may not continue to litigate at all. The court may rule that it is not possible to restore the void summonses, precisely to prevent delays from occurring.

Click here to read the original article on Emerce.nl (in Dutch)