TikTok sued on behalf of minors
Yesterday, June 2, the SOMI Foundation summoned TikTok for violating privacy legislation through a mass claim on behalf of parents of children who have used TikTok. The claim amount can rise to more than € 1.4 billion. According to the Foundation for Market Information Research (SOMI), TikTok is negligent when it comes to guaranteeing the safety and privacy of children on the platform. Internationally, this has already led to several deaths among minors. According to SOMI, it is, therefore, necessary to “intervene as quickly as possible”. The amounts that SOMI demands as compensation for the participants in its mass claim against TikTok can amount to more than 1.4 billion euros, based on the more than 1 million Dutch minor users. The subpoena is 146 pages and if you read further you can view it in its entirety.
This article was published on 3rd June 2021 on Riskcompliance.nl.
The amounts that SOMI demands are 2,000 euros for children under 13, 1,000 euros for children aged 13, 14 and 15, and 500 euros for children aged 16 and 17. But more importantly, according to the foundation, “A court decision can directly restrict TikTok – and other social media platforms. In the past year, we have sent letters of complaint to TikTok and several European supervisory authorities, but have not seen any substantive results. That is why we have decided not to wait for the investigations by the authorities and to take legal action ourselves,” says Cor Wijtvliet, co-founder of SOMI.
The charge
According to SOMI, TikTok violates European rules by profiling children for marketing purposes, not properly requesting consent for the use of data, and not specifying which data is collected for which purposes. The company would also collect and store much more data than necessary. In addition, TikTok would not meet the data retention and security requirements imposed by the European GDPR.
More importantly; the Chinese social media platform does not sufficiently guarantee the safety of minors. Around the world, media reported accidents as a result of participating in challenges promoted by the platform. Sometimes even resulting in death: in early 2021, a ten-year-old Italian girl died after participating in the blackout challenge, in which participants deliberately let themselves choke for as long as possible.
SOMI is expanding its charges against TikTok with the claim that the platform does not comply with the European Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMS), which includes specific rules to protect children from harmful video content. In addition, the foundation considers it unlawful that TikTok fails to keep illegal content of the platform sufficiently out of the view of young people. SOMI also believes that more generic videos on TikTok can be harmful to young children, for example (a lot of) hidden advertisements for harmful products and content that promotes unrealistic ideals of beauty, which can lead to problems such as self-harm and eating disorders.
Summons
The first step in the legal process was taken on June 2. The lawyers of SOMI, privacy experts of law firm SOLV led by Douwe Linders, have sent an official subpoena of no less than 146 pages to TikTok Technology Limited. The summons follows an earlier request this month to consult with TikTok. In response, the Chinese tech giant stated that it believes that there are no violations of any law whatsoever and that SOMI's objections have no factual basis.
Douwe Linders, partner at SOLV: “The risks of using TikTok by children should not be underestimated and the good intentions of TikTok should not be overestimated. It often seems fun and innocent, but TikTok is just a profiling and advertising machine. SOMI has a strong case and we will fight for the interests of its supporters. But a giant like TikTok will not give in easily. We have to be patient and work carefully.”
In addition to the subpoena, the claim is entered in the collective claims register with the court, so that it is recognized as such under the Dutch Act on Collective damages claims (WAMCA).
The claim against TikTok is based on all Dutch minor users of the platform. SOMI has been building the case for some time and now has more than 64,000 European participants that they directly represent: “In order to provide the correct evidence, we must be able to substantiate that TikTok is infringing the law. We can only do that if we have examples of this. We, therefore, ask on behalf of our users how TikTok has stored personal data and with whom they share the data. According to the GDPR, they are obliged to share this information. With this evidence we can conduct a case before the Dutch court on behalf of all possible Dutch victims," says Cor Wijtvliet.
If successful, the compensation will be distributed via a claim handler with anyone who can prove that they have used TikTok. First of all with the members.
Read the full article (in Dutch): https://www.riskcompliance.nl/news/tiktok-gedaagd-voor-de-rechter-namens-minderjarigen/