TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, have agreed to pay $400 million (about £293 million) to the United States government to settle allegations that the social media platform violated children’s privacy laws.
The settlement is one of the largest penalties imposed in the United States for violations of children’s online privacy.
The case followed a lawsuit filed in 2024 by the US Department of Justice under former President Joe Biden. The government accused TikTok and ByteDance of collecting large amounts of personal information from millions of children under 13 without obtaining the required parental consent.
The alleged violations reportedly breached the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), a US law designed to protect children from the collection and misuse of their personal information online.
Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate said the settlement would help strengthen protections for children and their parents.
Under the agreement, TikTok and ByteDance will immediately pay $300 million to the US Department of Justice. An additional $100 million will be paid after the government withdraws a 2019 consent decree involving the Federal Trade Commission.
The case is not the first time a major technology company has been sanctioned under the child privacy law. YouTube paid $170 million in 2019 over alleged COPPA violations, while Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, paid $275 million in 2022.
According to the US government, TikTok had made significant changes since the lawsuit was filed, including changes to its ownership structure, privacy practices and controls aimed at protecting younger users.
The original case also alleged that TikTok did not have an effective system for determining users’ ages or obtaining parental consent from children under 13.
TikTok’s settlement comes amid growing concern in the United States and other countries over children’s use of social media and technology companies’ collection of their personal information.
Meanwhile, Facebook and Instagram owner Meta is facing a separate legal battle in the US over alleged violations of children’s privacy rules. The case involves attorneys general from 29 US states.
TikTok’s ownership in the United States has also changed. A consortium of investors now owns about 81 per cent of its US operations, while ByteDance retains a 19 per cent stake.
The latest settlement relates to allegations concerning TikTok’s operations and practices before and during the period covered by the lawsuit.
