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TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, have agreed to pay $400 million to settle a US Justice Department lawsuit alleging that the short-video platform violated federal children’s privacy laws.
The lawsuit, filed in 2024, accused TikTok of allowing children under 13 to create accounts and collecting and retaining their personal information without properly notifying or obtaining consent from their parents, in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
Under the settlement, TikTok will pay $300 million immediately, while the remaining $100 million will be paid after a court order vacates a 2019 consent decree involving Musical.ly, TikTok’s predecessor. That earlier case resulted in a $5.7 million fine.
The Justice Department described the agreement as one of the largest recoveries ever obtained in a COPPA case. Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said the settlement would strengthen protections for American children and families.
The government said TikTok has made significant changes since the lawsuit was filed, including improvements to its ownership and management structures, privacy practices, age-related controls and parental oversight.
TikTok’s US operations now require users to provide their date of birth, while the company says it has developed systems to identify children under 13 who misrepresent their age. It also employs hundreds of staff trained to detect and remove underage accounts.
The settlement resolves the US government’s allegations, but does not constitute a finding of liability against TikTok or ByteDance.
