Two of the three foundations that have filed for damages against TikTok may have invalid claims. TikTok’s lawyers indicate that the foundations have not adhered to statutory deadlines. There is a risk that the two foundations may not be able to continue their case, which would mean that only the SOMI Foundation’s lawsuit will remain active. After the SOMI Foundation sued TikTok in June for an amount of €1.4 billion for large-scale violations of children’s privacy by the social video service, the Take Back Your Privacy Foundation (supported by the Consumentenbond) and the Massaschade & Consument Foundation also filed claims for damages. The two cases are largely similar to the case that SOMI initiated. The three cases are now being heard simultaneously by the court.
TikTok’s lawyers have now come forward. They have argued that Take Back Your Privacy and Massaschade & Consument have not adhered to a statutory period of three months when issuing their summonses and that their summonses are therefore null and void. As a result, the two foundations may have to reissue their summonses and the case could be delayed by at least three months.
The court may also decide that the two foundations may not continue their legal proceedings at all. The court may rule that it is not possible to restore the null and void summonses, precisely to prevent delays from occurring. SOMI would then be the only foundation to proceed with the case. This would not change anything for the affected children. SOMI represents all underage TikTok users in the Netherlands.
Source: SOMI
