TikTok agrees to pay $400 million to the government to settle child privacy lawsuit
TikTok has now settled a lawsuit, originally launched by the Biden administration, that accused it of letting kids under 13 sign up without parental supervision.
TikTok has reached a settlement with the United States government, agreeing to pay $400 million in a lawsuit brought by the Department of Justice under the Biden administration. The settlement, which was made public today, involves a $300 million payment followed by an additional $100 million at a later date. The lawsuit alleges that TikTok violated the United States' Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by allowing users under the age of 13 to sign up for accounts without parental supervision.
This practice, the lawsuit contends, allowed children to share personal data without required parental oversight and facilitated interaction with adult users with minimal safeguards. The controversial settlement comes amid the Trump administration's efforts to force TikTok to sell its U.S.-based operations, ByteDance, to non-Chinese investors.
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