It doesn't boggle my mind. I'm sure very few services online would stand up to scrutiny. It's just that such few platforms are ever in that position.
Though, TikTok is a video platform with immense popularity among children. Put those two together and you're bound to be first on this sort of COPPA chopping block, so I suppose I do see how OP's mind could be boggled after all. Maybe it's "just" a fine of $5.7 million.
It seems pretty clear that userbase demographics are a factor. It's the best evidence you can have.
Funnily enough, I think it's fair for pornhub to assume their audience is 13 or older.
Porn sites used to make you affirm that you were at least 18, though. I wonder what happened to that.
“Children under the age of 13 are not allowed to create an account or otherwise use the Services.”
“If you are under age 18, you may only use the Services with the consent of your parent or legal guardian. Please be sure your parent or legal guardian has reviewed and discussed these Terms with you.”
Children would then have to ignore the terms and lie to the date of birth screen (fraud) to gain access, yet I'm sure that wouldn't stop most of them.
TikToks as a company can publish age stats from the data 'proving' they have nobody under 13, and all of the above should satisfy FTC
I don't believe the FTC would consider this compliance, since such a dialogue is designed to encourage children to lie.
>3. Can I block children under 13 from my general audience website or online service?
> Yes. COPPA does not require you to permit children under age 13 to participate in your general audience website or online service, and you may block children from participating if you so choose. By contrast, you may not block children from participating in a website or online service that is directed to children as defined by the Rule. See FAQ D.2 above.
> If you choose to block children under 13 on your general audience site or service, you should take care to design your age screen in a manner that does not encourage children to falsify their ages to gain access to your site or service. Ask age information in a neutral manner at the point at which you invite visitors to provide personal information or to create a user ID.
A bit more to the point:
> In designing a neutral age-screening mechanism, you should consider: Making sure the data entry point allows users to enter their age accurately. An example of a neutral age-screen would be a system that allows a user freely to enter month, day, and year of birth. A site that includes a drop-down menu that only permits users to enter birth years making them 13 or older, would not be considered a neutral age-screening mechanism since children cannot enter their correct ages on that site.
https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/com...
Out of curiosity - is that really fraud? It doesn’t sound like it hurts the company.
[0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_marriage_in_the_United_...
I bet TikTok had the same thing. But look at TikTok's attempt at complying in TFA: they didn't just make a /policy edit. They started asking birthdate upon register/login but managed to botch that, so they started asking users for scans of their government-issued ID.
If these are the sorts of measures that the FTC needs to see, then who actually is compliant under scrutiny?
You can upload selfie image/videos directly to Reddit. Wouldn't Reddit be just as incapable of deleting all content from users that were <13yo at time of upload like TikTok was ordered to do?
Don't get me wrong, I think "Are you over 13?" is about as useful as "Are you over 18?" and "Do you agree with our cookie policy?"