CALIFORNIA: TikTok has agreed to pay $400 million to the US government to settle allegations that it violated children’s privacy laws, making the case one of the largest settlements involving the protection of children’s online data.
The settlement follows a lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice in 2024 during the administration of former President Joe Biden. The lawsuit accused TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, of collecting extensive amounts of personal data from millions of users under the age of 13, according to BBC.
US authorities alleged that the practices violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), a federal law enacted in 2000 to protect children’s privacy online. The same law is at the center of a separate legal action brought by dozens of US states against Meta.
Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate said the settlement would strengthen protections for children and parents compared with the situation when the case was initially filed, BBC report stated.
Under the agreement, TikTok and ByteDance will make an immediate payment of $300 million to the Department of Justice. An additional $100 million will be paid once the government withdraws a 2019 consent decree involving the Federal Trade Commission.
The case also relates to TikTok’s predecessor, Musical.ly, which was ordered to pay a $5.7 million penalty in 2019 over alleged COPPA violations and required to obtain parental consent before allowing children under 13 to use its services.
The Justice Department did not announce additional penalties or specific measures against TikTok beyond the financial settlement. However, it noted that the platform has undergone substantial changes since the lawsuit was filed, including changes to its ownership structure, privacy policies, and safeguards for younger users.
When the lawsuit was brought, US attorneys alleged that more than 170 million teenagers were using TikTok and that the platform appealed directly to children. They argued that TikTok had failed to adequately verify users’ ages or obtain parental consent for children under 13.
The settlement comes amid broader scrutiny of technology companies over children’s online privacy. Google’s YouTube paid $170 million to US authorities in 2019 over alleged COPPA violations, while Epic Games agreed to pay $275 million in 2022.
Meta is also facing a major COPPA-related lawsuit brought by attorneys general from 29 US states. The case, which went to a jury trial this week, accuses Meta of targeting children and profiting from their use of its platforms.
The TikTok case predates last year’s restructuring of the company’s US operations and the separation of its US business from its original China-based structure. The settlement, however, applies only to TikTok’s operations in China.
ByteDance, a privately held company, was most recently valued by investors at approximately $550 billion.
The agreement follows years of political pressure over TikTok’s ownership and data practices in the US. In 2024, the Biden administration sought either a ban on TikTok or the sale of its US operations. President Donald Trump later backed a divestment deal, which was completed last year.
The US operations are now 81 percent owned by an investor consortium, while ByteDance retains a 19 percent stake. TikTok did not respond to a request for comment.
(Inputs from BBC)
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