TikTok settles child data privacy lawsuit for $400 million

TikTok has reached a $400 million settlement with the U.S. government to resolve a lawsuit accusing the company of violating child data privacy laws. This agreement marks the largest settlement to date concerning child data protection.

The legal action originated from a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Justice Department in 2024. The department alleged that TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, amassed substantial amounts of data from millions of users under the age of 13. This practice was claimed to be in violation of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), a federal law enacted in 2000 that serves as the basis for similar lawsuits filed by numerous U.S. states against Meta.

Under the terms of the settlement, TikTok and ByteDance will pay $300 million to the Justice Department immediately. An additional $100 million will be paid if the U.S. government withdraws a consent order signed in 2019 with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). As part of the agreement, ByteDance's predecessor, Musical.ly, will pay a $5.7 million fine for COPPA violations and implement parental consent requirements for users under 13.

The Justice Department noted that TikTok has undergone significant changes since the lawsuit was filed, including alterations to its ownership structure, data privacy practices, and platform controls for young users. At the time the suit was initiated, U.S. lawyers argued that TikTok, with over 170 million young users in the U.S., was targeting children and failed to adequately verify user ages or obtain parental consent for minors.

This settlement comes after previous efforts by the Biden administration to ban TikTok or force its sale, a stance also supported by former President Donald Trump. The company's U.S. operations were sold last year to a consortium of investors, who now own 81% of the business, with ByteDance retaining a 19% stake.