WASHINGTON, United States – TikTok and its parent company ByteDance have agreed to pay $400 million to the United States government to settle allegations that the platform violated federal children’s privacy laws.
The settlement stems from a 2024 lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice under former President Joe Biden, which alleged that TikTok collected extensive personal data from millions of users under the age of 13 without complying with federal requirements. Okay News reports that the agreement is one of the largest US settlements involving children’s online privacy.
The case centres on the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), a federal law enacted in 2000 that requires certain online services directed at children to obtain parental consent before collecting personal information from users under 13.
“Children and parents are better protected today than they were when this case began,” Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate said.
Under the agreement, TikTok and ByteDance will immediately pay the Justice Department $300 million. A further $100 million will be paid after the government withdraws a 2019 consent decree involving the Federal Trade Commission.
The earlier agreement involved Musical.ly, the predecessor to TikTok, which was required to pay $5.7 million over alleged COPPA violations and take steps to obtain parental consent for users under 13.
The Justice Department said TikTok had undergone significant changes since the lawsuit was filed, including changes to its ownership structure, privacy practices and controls for younger users.
When the lawsuit was filed, US attorneys alleged that more than 170 million teenagers were using TikTok and that the platform was directed toward children. They also alleged that TikTok did not effectively determine users’ ages or obtain parental consent for children under 13.
The settlement comes as Meta faces a separate lawsuit brought by attorneys general from 29 US states over alleged violations of children’s privacy protections. A jury trial in that case began this week.
Other major technology companies have previously faced COPPA penalties. YouTube, owned by Google, agreed to pay $170 million in 2019, while Epic Games agreed to a $275 million penalty in 2022.
The TikTok case was filed before the restructuring of the company’s US operations last year. Under the current ownership arrangement, a consortium of investors holds an 81% stake in TikTok’s US operations, while ByteDance retains 19%.
The Justice Department said the settlement applies to TikTok’s operations in China and did not announce additional measures against the platform beyond the financial agreement.
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
