United States: TikTok has agreed to pay $400 million to the US government to settle a lawsuit alleging that the platform violated children’s privacy laws, marking one of the largest settlements involving the protection of children’s data.
The settlement stems from a lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice in 2024 under former President Joe Biden. The government alleged that TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, collected large amounts of personal data from millions of users under the age of 13 without obtaining the required parental consent.
The case involved the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), a federal law introduced in 2000 to protect the personal information of children under 13 when using online services.
US Assistant Attorney General, Brett Shumate said that the settlement would strengthen protections for children and parents compared with the situation when the case was initially filed.
Other major technology companies have previously faced penalties for alleged COPPA violations. Google’s YouTube paid $170 million in 2019, while Epic Games agreed to pay $275 million in 2022.
The TikTok settlement comes as other social media companies face growing scrutiny over the way their platforms handle children’s data. Meta is currently facing a major lawsuit brought by attorneys general from 29 US states over allegations involving children’s privacy and the design of Instagram and Facebook.
The TikTok lawsuit was filed before the restructuring of TikTok’s US operations last year. The settlement applies to TikTok’s operations in China, while the company’s US business has since undergone significant changes to its ownership, privacy practices and controls for younger users.
As part of the agreement, Musical.ly, TikTok’s predecessor, was also required to pay a $5.7 million penalty for alleged COPPA violations and take steps to obtain parental consent for users under 13.
When the lawsuit was filed, US authorities alleged that TikTok had more than 170 million teenage users and that the platform was directed toward children. The government also argued that TikTok did not adequately verify users’ ages or obtain parental consent from underage users.
The settlement adds to mounting regulatory pressure on social media companies over children’s online safety and the collection and use of minors’ personal information.
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