TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance have agreed to pay $400 million to settle a US department of justice lawsuit alleging violations of federal children’s privacy laws. The settlement marks one of the largest recoveries under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (Copra).Under the settlement, TikTok will pay $300 million immediately and a further $100 million after an order is entered vacating an earlier consent decree involving TikTok’s predecessor, Musical.ly, the DOJ said in a release.The justice department had sued TikTok and ByteDance in 2024, alleging that the companies unlawfully collected children’s personal information and failed to comply with requirements to obtain parental consent for users under 13.The lawsuit also alleged that TikTok failed to honour parents’ requests to delete children’s accounts, including in cases where the company knew the accounts belonged to users under 13.“This settlement is a major victory for American children and parents,” US associate attorney general Stanley E. Woodward Jr said.“The Department’s priority is ensuring that children are protected online and that companies entrusted with their personal information meet their legal obligations,” Woodward said, adding that the settlement “secures a substantial recovery while reinforcing the protections that families expect and deserve”.The DOJ said the settlement resolves litigation concerning compliance with COPPA and its implementing regulations. The department also said the agreement would avoid the delay and uncertainty of prolonged litigation.The settlement also relates to a 2019 Federal Trade Commission (FTC) consent decree involving Musical.ly. The FTC had alleged that the platform knew young children were using the app but failed to obtain parental consent before collecting their names, email addresses and other personal information. Musical.ly paid a $5.7 million fine at the time, according to the FTC.The latest settlement comes as social media companies face increasing scrutiny over children’s online safety and privacy. Meta Platforms is currently facing a federal trial in Oakland, California, over allegations involving COPPA and state laws, according to Reuters.TikTok has undergone significant changes since the DOJ filed its complaint, including changes to its US ownership, management, compliance functions and privacy practices.In January, ByteDance agreed to establish a majority American-owned TikTok US joint venture involving investors including Oracle, Silver Lake and Emirati investment firm MGX, to avoid a US ban on the app used by more than 200 million Americans.The TikTok US joint venture said in a court filing that users must enter their date of birth to access the platform. It also said TikTok had developed age-moderation systems to identify users under 13 who misrepresented their age.According to the filing cited by Reuters, TikTok has hundreds of personnel trained in underage moderation and deletes tens of thousands of accounts identified as belonging to underage users.
