Millions of children and teenagers in Brazil could soon see big changes to TikTok. Brazil's data protection authority has fined TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, nearly $30 million for failing to protect young users' personal data.
Regulators found that TikTok collected and processed data from at least eight million children without proper legal permission or safeguards. This happened both for users logged into accounts and for guests browsing without an account. In Brazil, people can watch TikTok content without signing in through a feature called the "logged-out feed." Authorities said this feature allows minors to easily use the app and skip age checks. The feature is available in Brazil, but not in the United States or Europe, where users must register to access content.
As part of the ruling, Brazil ordered TikTok to delete all personal data collected illegally from young users. The company must also build a better system to protect children and verify user ages on the platform. ByteDance has 10 days to appeal the decision.
The fine is part of a larger push by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's government to make social media safer for young people. Earlier this month, Brazilian authorities also ordered the popular app Discord to suspend its livestreaming feature after a 13-year-old girl died by suicide following an online stream. Other countries around the world, including Australia, Canada, and Indonesia, are also introducing stricter rules to protect minors on social media.