TikTok Reaches $400 Million Settlement with U.S. Over Children's Online Privacy Violations

Short-video platform TikTok and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, have agreed to pay $400 million (approximately 12.8 billion New Taiwan dollars) to settle a lawsuit with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The settlement addresses allegations of violating children's online privacy laws and marks one of the largest fines ever recorded for breaches of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

The case originated from a lawsuit filed in 2024 during the Biden administration. U.S. authorities accused TikTok and ByteDance of illegally collecting and retaining extensive personal data from millions of users under the age of 13 without obtaining parental consent, a direct violation of the federal COPPA law enacted in 2000.

Under the terms of the agreement, ByteDance, valued at approximately $550 billion, will immediately pay $300 million to the U.S. Department of Justice. An additional $100 million will be paid after a court vacates a prior consent order signed in 2019 concerning Musical.ly, TikTok's predecessor, which had previously paid a $5.7 million fine for COPPA violations.

Regarding operational restrictions, former President Biden initiated legislation in 2024 requiring TikTok to divest its U.S. operations, a move later supported by President Trump. The relevant U.S. business has since been split, with a consortium of U.S. investors now holding 81% ownership, leaving ByteDance with a minority stake of 19%.