TikTok Child Privacy Case Referred to Justice Department (1)

The US Federal Trade Commission referred a complaint against ByteDance Inc.’s TikTok to the Justice Department, setting up a potentially consequential government probe into the company’s handling of user data.

“Our investigation found reason to believe that TikTok is violating or about to violate the FTC Act and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act,” FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a social media post Tuesday.

The FTC was looking into the social media company over potential violations of federal law that protects children on the internet, as well as whether it violated a separate law that bars companies from ...