In this day and age, many parents resort to smartphones to keep their children occupied. But maybe this story will make them start to think twice.

Recently, Japanese news site SoraNews24 reported that a couple in Kyoto got the shock of their lives when they realised what their son has been doing on the phone from June to August last year. 

Their 10-year-old boy apparently spent 4.6 million yen (S$39.9K) on TikTok in-app purchases, out of which 3.7mil yen (S$32K) was spent on tipping content creators on the platform. 

The kid apparently also spent another sum of money using the smartphones of his two younger brothers.

His parents have since filed a case in the Kyoto District Court on July 9, seeking financial reimbursement of approximately 2.8mil yen (S$24K).

The defendants are TikTok’s operator ByteDance Japan and payment provider Apple Japan. 

It's said that the folks previously consulted their local Consumer Affairs Center and filed a petition with Apple Japan but were refunded only 900K yen (S$7.8K).

They also reached out to ByteDance Japan through a representative but have not received a response.

Under Japanese Civil Code, contracts made by minors without parental consent can be cancelled, unless the party in question has falsely claimed to be an adult.

In this case, the boy’s parents argued that the age verification procedures by both companies were inadequate. Hence, his purchases should be allowed to be cancelled even if he had registered as being of age.

A lawyer for the case also posited that providers are obligated to thoroughly confirm the ages of their users and provide refunds if children end up racking up high charges.

As of now, the parents are still waiting for the court to arrive at a verdict.

But we're guessing no screen time for the boy anytime soon? 

Photos: depositphotos, SoraNews24