WASHINGTON, US — TikTok and its parent company ByteDance have agreed to pay $400 million to the United States government to resolve allegations that the social media platform unlawfully collected personal information from children under the age of 13.
The settlement, announced by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), is among the largest penalties imposed in the United States over alleged violations of children’s online privacy rules.
The case stems from a 2024 lawsuit filed by the DOJ during the administration of former President Joe Biden. Prosecutors alleged that TikTok and ByteDance collected large amounts of personal information from millions of children and failed to adequately determine users’ ages or obtain parental consent.
The alleged conduct was found to violate the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), a federal law enacted in 2000 that regulates the collection of personal information from children.
“Children and parents are better protected today than they were when this case began,” Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate said.
TikTok to make $300 million payment immediately
Under the settlement, TikTok and ByteDance will immediately pay the DOJ $300 million.
The remaining $100 million will be paid when the US government vacates a 2019 consent decree involving the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
The agreement follows an earlier enforcement action involving Musical.ly, the short-video platform that was acquired by ByteDance and later integrated into TikTok.
Musical.ly agreed to pay $5.7 million in 2019 over alleged COPPA violations and was required to obtain parental consent for users under the age of 13.
The DOJ said TikTok has undergone significant changes since the lawsuit was filed, including changes to its ownership structure, privacy practices and controls designed to protect younger users.
US has stepped up child privacy enforcement
The TikTok settlement comes as US authorities and state governments intensify scrutiny of technology companies over the treatment of children and teenagers online.
Google’s YouTube paid $170 million in 2019 to settle allegations involving COPPA violations, while Epic Games agreed to pay $275 million in 2022 in a separate case.
Meta is also facing a major legal challenge brought by attorneys general from 29 US states over allegations that its platforms targeted children and profited from their use.
A jury trial in that case began this week.
TikTok faced scrutiny over underage users
When the US government filed its case against TikTok, prosecutors alleged that the platform had more than 170 million users in the United States and was effectively directed at children while failing to adequately identify underage users.
The government alleged that TikTok’s systems did not effectively prevent children under 13 from using the platform or ensure that parental consent was obtained as required by federal law.
COPPA generally requires online services directed at children, or those that knowingly collect personal information from children under 13, to obtain verifiable parental consent and meet other privacy obligations.
Settlement comes after TikTok’s US ownership changes
The legal settlement follows major changes to TikTok’s US operations.
The lawsuit was filed before the restructuring of TikTok’s US business and its separation from its original Chinese corporate structure.
TikTok’s US operations are now reportedly 81pc owned by a consortium of investors, while ByteDance retains a 19pc stake.
ByteDance, a privately held company, was most recently valued by investors at approximately $550 billion.
The company has faced years of political and regulatory pressure in Washington over both data privacy and national-security concerns.
Biden sought TikTok divestment
The child privacy lawsuit was also part of a broader period of scrutiny of TikTok during the Biden administration.
In 2024, President Joe Biden, then, signed legislation that sought to force ByteDance to divest TikTok’s US operations or face a potential ban.
U.S. President Donald Trump later backed a divestment arrangement, which ultimately resulted in the restructuring of TikTok’s US business.
