TikTok to pay $400m to US in one of largest child privacy settlements
The deal stems from a 2024 lawsuit alleging TikTok and its parent company ByteDance collected "vast amounts of data" on millions of users under the age of 13.
TikTok has reached a $400 million settlement with the US government, marking one of the largest ever settlements regarding children's privacy violations. The deal comes from a 2024 lawsuit by the Department of Justice under former President Joe Biden. The DOJ alleged that TikTok and its parent company ByteDance had collected vast amounts of data on millions of users under the age of 13, which violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
This settlement also involves the app's predecessor, Musical.ly, which was required to pay a $5.7 million fine for COPPA violations and ensure parental consent for users under 13. Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate emphasized that children and parents are now better protected compared to when the case began. Other companies, such as Google's YouTube and Epic Games, have also paid penalties for COPPA violations in the past.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is now facing penalties that could exceed hundreds of billions of dollars due to alleged COPPA violations. The TikTok lawsuit began before the platform's split of its US business and operations from its original base in China, but the settlement only affects TikTok's operations in China.
The DOJ paid $300 million to TikTok and ByteDance immediately, with the remaining $100 million owed when the government vacates a 2019 consent decree with the Federal Trade Commission.
Written by urgent.news from BBC Technology's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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