BRAZIL SLAPS TIKTOK WITH $29.9M FINE OVER CHILD DATA PROTECTION BREACHES

Brazilian authorities have fined TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, 153.7 million reais, equivalent to about $29.9 million, over alleged violations involving the collection and processing of children’s and teenagers’ personal data.

The country’s National Data Protection Authority, ANPD, said TikTok failed to implement adequate measures to prevent underage users from accessing the platform and did not provide sufficient safeguards for the personal information of young users. The regulator estimated that the data of millions of minors could have been affected.

One of the concerns raised by the Brazilian regulator was TikTok’s “logged-out” browsing feature, which allows people to view content without creating an account. According to the authorities, the feature made it possible for children and teenagers to access the platform without effective age-verification measures.

Beyond the financial penalty, ByteDance has been ordered to delete data collected from minors where the required legal consent or safeguards were not in place. TikTok has also agreed to strengthen privacy settings for users under 16, improve parental controls and introduce stricter content-filtering measures.

TikTok, however, said the case relates to conduct dating back to 2021 and argued that the penalty does not take into account safety measures introduced in subsequent years. The company said it had implemented more than 50 safety features for teenagers, including restrictions on direct messaging and tools that allow parents to manage screen time and block accounts.

The Brazilian regulator has given ByteDance 10 days to appeal the fine. The case forms part of a wider push by Brazilian authorities to strengthen protections for children online, with the regulator also examining whether other major social media platforms are complying with the country's newer digital child-safety requirements.