TikTok has reached a settlement with the US Department of Justice involving a $400 million payment, making it one of the largest child privacy violation settlements to date. The lawsuit, originally filed in 2024 under the Biden administration, alleged that TikTok and parent company ByteDance collected substantial amounts of personal information from millions of users younger than 13 years old, violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, a federal statute from 2000.
Under the settlement terms, TikTok and ByteDance will immediately transfer $300 million to the Department of Justice, with an additional $100 million payment due when the government rescinds a 2019 consent decree with the Federal Trade Commission. Additionally, Musical.ly, the predecessor entity to ByteDance, was required to pay a $5.7 million fine for similar COPPA violations and must now obtain parental authorization before allowing users under 13 to access the platform.
The settlement marks a significant enforcement action in the ongoing efforts by US regulators to protect children’s privacy online. Other major technology companies have previously faced substantial penalties for COPPA violations, including YouTube, which paid $170 million in 2019, and Epic Games, which paid $275 million in 2022. Meta is currently facing potential penalties exceeding hundreds of billions of dollars from 29 state attorneys general alleging COPPA violations, with a jury trial in that case having commenced this week.
According to the Department of Justice, TikTok has implemented substantial operational changes since the lawsuit was filed, including modifications to its ownership structure, privacy policies, and user controls designed to protect younger users. The settlement does not address enforcement actions beyond the financial penalty. ByteDance, a privately held company most recently valued at $550 billion by investors, maintains a 19% stake in TikTok’s US operations, with the remainder controlled by a consortium of investors following the divestment that occurred last year.
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