TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, have agreed to pay $400 million to resolve a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit alleging violations of federal laws designed to protect children’s online privacy.
The settlement, announced Friday, resolves litigation stemming from a 2024 lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The government alleged that TikTok knowingly allowed children under 13 to create and use accounts without parental consent while collecting and retaining their personal information in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, and its implementing regulations.
Under the agreement, TikTok will pay $300 million immediately. The remaining $100 million will become due after a court enters an order vacating an earlier consent decree involving Musical.ly, TikTok’s predecessor. The Justice Department described the resolution as one of the largest recoveries ever obtained in a COPPA case.
“This settlement is a major victory for American children and parents,” Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. said in the Justice Department’s announcement.
Government alleged years of children’s data violations
The Justice Department’s complaint alleged that TikTok and ByteDance collected extensive personal information from children under 13 without obtaining the parental consent required by federal law. The government also alleged that the companies failed to honor some parental requests to delete children’s accounts and the personal information associated with them. (AP News)
Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate said the settlement reinforces the government’s position that companies handling children’s information must comply with federal privacy requirements.
“Companies that collect children’s personal information must comply with the law,” Shumate said.
The settlement does not amount to a finding that TikTok or ByteDance violated the law. The Justice Department said the claims resolved by the agreement were allegations and that there had been no determination of liability.
A dispute rooted in TikTok’s Musical.ly past
The case also follows a previous children’s privacy enforcement action involving Musical.ly, the platform that later became TikTok.
In 2019, the Federal Trade Commission reached a $5.7 million settlement with Musical.ly over allegations that it collected personal information from children without obtaining parental consent, a penalty that was the largest civil penalty obtained in a children’s privacy case at the time.
The latest agreement effectively brings an end to another major chapter in the federal government’s long-running scrutiny of TikTok’s handling of younger users’ data.
Since the Justice Department filed its lawsuit, TikTok has made significant changes to its ownership, management, compliance functions and privacy practices, according to the DOJ. The department said the company has implemented measures intended to strengthen safeguards for younger users, improve age-related controls and give parents greater oversight. (
Children’s privacy remains a major legal battleground
The $400 million agreement arrives as social media companies continue to face mounting legal and regulatory scrutiny over how they collect, store and use children’s data.
The case underscores the continuing importance of COPPA, the federal law requiring certain online services to obtain parental consent before collecting personal information from children under 13.
TikTok and ByteDance previously disputed the government’s allegations, with the company saying when the litigation began that many of the claims related to past practices that were inaccurate or had already been addressed. The companies did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement.
The resolution also comes during a period of significant changes to TikTok’s U.S. business and ownership structure. But while questions surrounding the platform’s future in the United States have generated considerable political attention, the Justice Department’s settlement places the focus squarely on a separate issue: the legal obligations technology companies have when children are using their platforms.
For federal regulators, the message is clear. The popularity and scale of a social media platform do not exempt it from the laws governing children’s privacy.
