Legal trouble: Portuguese NGO sues TikTok, says platform 'profits from children'

A Portugal-based European consumer protection group has sued short-video app TikTok for allegedly allowing children aged under 13 to sign up for an account without parental consent and failing to implement measures to protect them.

The lawsuit came a day after Britain's data watchdog said it had fined TikTok 12.7 million pounds ($15.81 million) for breaching data protection law, including by using the personal data of children without parental consent.

Amid growing security concerns that China could use the Beijing-based company, owned by ByteDance Ltd, to harvest users' data, Australia, the United States, France and other Western countries have also lately banned TikTok from government devices.

"TikTok profits from children under the age of 13, taking advantage of their particular vulnerability," the non-profit group Ius Omnibus said in a statement, asking a Lisbon court to "put an end to the unlawful conduct" and order the financial compensation of those affected.

TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but told Portuguese newspaper Publico in a statement that protecting its users and their data was of "utmost importance".

Ius Omnibus claims TikTok ends up collecting and processing children's personal data in breach of Portugal's constitution, the European Union's general data protection regulation and the unfair commercial practices law.