In brief
In a groundbreaking move, TikTok agreed to hand over $400 million to the United States, resolving allegations that its platform violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. The settlement follows a 2024 DOJ lawsuit accusing the Chinese‑owned ByteDance of harvesting data from millions of users under 13 without parental consent. Other social‑media firms such as Meta and Google have faced similar penalties, underscoring tighter scrutiny of youth data handling. The agreement stipulates an immediate $300 m payment, with an additional $100 m due once the government lifts a 2019 FTC consent decree. This deal signals significant shifts in TikTok’s privacy practices and ownership structure, amid ongoing political debate over foreign‑owned platforms in the U.S.
TikTok has agreed to pay the United States a total of $400 million (£293 million) to end a lawsuit that alleged the platform violated children’s privacy, one of the largest settlements in this area.
The deal stems from a 2024 lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice under former President Joe Biden, which accused TikTok and its parent company ByteDance of collecting "vast amounts of data" on millions of users under the age of 13 without parental consent.
These actions were claimed to breach the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), a federal law enacted in 2000. Similar penalties have been imposed on Google’s YouTube ($170 m in 2019) and Epic Games ($275 m in 2022), and Meta faces potential fines that could exceed hundreds of billions of dollars from state attorneys general.
According to the agreement, TikTok and ByteDance will immediately pay $300 million to the DOJ and a further $100 million after the U.S. government vacates a 2019 FTC consent decree. The settlement also referenced earlier fines paid by TikTok’s predecessor, Musical.ly, which included a $5.7 million fine and a mandate to secure parental consent for users under 13.
The Department of Justice highlighted significant changes in TikTok’s ownership, privacy practices and user controls following the lawsuit. Its U.S. operations are now 81% owned by a consortium of investors, with ByteDance holding a 19% stake.
A representative of TikTok did not respond to requests for comment, while the DOJ noted that the platform had "undergone significant changes" in response to the lawsuit.
