TikTok faces €6Billion Lawsuit in Netherlands Court

By Legal Wires 3 Minutes Read

Dutch non-profit foundation, Stichting Massaschade & Consument filed a lawsuit against TikTok seeking to force the social media app to compensate 4.5 million Dutch users for harvesting and auctioning sensitive user data in violation of European privacy laws.

Stichting Massaschade & Consument is asking the court in Amsterdam to order TikTok to pay €6 billion, an amount based on fixed damages of €1.250-1.750 per user. The foundation argues that TikTok, run by a Chinese company, profits off its users because its platform ‘hardly distinguishes between advertising and user-generated content.’ TikTok also transfers user data to countries with less protection for personal data like China and the US.

It is noted that Stichting Massaschade & Consument is the third foundation to sue TikTok over privacy issues in Dutch court this year. In late June, two other foundations, the Take Back Your Privacy Foundation and the Consumers Association, launched a €2 billion claim against the app. However, the earlier suit only attempted to have TikTok pay damages based on the violation of children’s privacy rights, while Stichting Massaschade & Consument’s action seeks compensation for all age groups.

Sandra Molenaar, the director of the Consumers Association, said that TikTok has “outrageously abused children, sometimes very young.” TikTok allegedly misled children and invaded their privacy, resulting in huge profits for the company made from “pure exploitation, which must be compensated.”

The Dutch Data Protection Authority, the Dutch government’s watchdog, imposed a fine of €750,000 on TikTok at the end of July for violating the privacy of Dutch children.

Last year on 29 June 2020, TikTok was banned by the Indian Government alleging TikTok as a threat to India’s national security. TikTok had been using users’ data illegally and secretly collecting information from people’s phones when they downloaded the app.

Legal Wires

Team @LegalWires