Settlement announced
The US Department of Justice announced on Friday a $400 million settlement with TikTok and its parent company ByteDance, resolving a lawsuit that accused the companies of violating children's online privacy laws. The settlement, described by the DOJ as "one of the largest recoveries ever obtained" in a case involving the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), requires TikTok to pay $300 million immediately and an additional $100 million upon entry of an order vacating a prior consent decree entered against TikTok's predecessor, Musical.ly.
The lawsuit, filed in 2024 by the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission, alleged that TikTok and ByteDance collected personal information from children under 13 without obtaining parental consent, in violation of COPPA. The DOJ said TikTok knowingly permitted children to create regular accounts and share videos with adults, and collected personal information from these children without parental consent.
Officials' statements
Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. called the settlement "a major victory for American children and parents," adding that the department's priority "is ensuring that children are protected online and that companies entrusted with their personal information meet their legal obligations." He said the resolution "secures a substantial recovery while reinforcing the protections that families expect and deserve."
Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the DOJ's Civil Division said: "The most important result is that children and parents are better protected today than they were when this case began." In a separate statement, Shumate said the settlement "reflects substantial progress, secures a significant monetary recovery, and brings this matter to a successful conclusion."
The DOJ said the settlement "ensures that American families continue to benefit from stronger protections without the delay and uncertainty of protracted litigation."
TikTok's changes and context
The DOJ noted that since the lawsuit was filed, TikTok has "undergone significant changes to its ownership, management, compliance functions and privacy practices." The company has implemented extensive measures designed to strengthen safeguards for younger users.
In January, ByteDance agreed to establish a majority American-owned joint venture to secure US data and avoid a ban on the app, which is used by more than 200 million Americans. The TikTok US joint venture said in a court filing that it requires all users to enter their date of birth to use the site. TikTok said it has developed sophisticated age-moderation systems that identify children under 13 who misrepresented their age, and that it has hundreds of personnel trained in underage moderation and deletes tens of thousands of underage accounts.
The settlement also references a 2019 consent decree with the FTC against Musical.ly, TikTok's predecessor. In that case, the FTC said TikTok, then known as Musical.ly, knew that young children used the app and had failed to get parental consent to collect their names, email addresses and other personal information, and paid a fine of $5.7 million.
TikTok did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Broader scrutiny
The settlement comes as TikTok faces increasing pressure around the world. In 2024, the European Union launched a probe into TikTok under the Digital Services Act. In July, the EU accused TikTok of failing to protect children from risks such as unwanted contact, cyberbullying, and predatory behavior. The UK also launched a probe into TikTok in July to investigate whether the app is doing enough to protect children from harmful content under UK law.