TikTok has agreed to pay $400 million to settle a US Justice Department lawsuit alleging the company violated federal children’s privacy laws.
The Justice Department said on Friday that TikTok will pay $300 million immediately and another $100 million after an order vacates an earlier consent decree against its predecessor, Musical.ly.
“This settlement is a major victory for American children and parents,” US Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. said in a statement.
The department said the settlement would strengthen protections for children and hold companies responsible for safeguarding users’ personal information.
Lawsuit over children’s data
The 2024 lawsuit alleged that TikTok and ByteDance violated a federal law requiring apps and websites aimed at children to obtain parental consent before collecting personal information from users under 13.
It also alleged that the companies failed to honour requests from parents seeking to have their children’s accounts deleted and did not delete accounts even when they knew the users were under 13.
TikTok has undergone major changes since the lawsuit was filed, including changes to the ownership structure of its US operations.
In January, TikTok signed agreements with investors including Oracle, Silver Lake and Emirati investment firm MGX to form a new TikTok US joint venture.
TikTok representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
The settlement comes as social media companies face increasing legal scrutiny over children’s safety and privacy, while a growing number of countries move to restrict young people’s access to social media platforms.
Meta Platforms, the parent company of Instagram, is also currently on trial in federal court in Oakland, California, over allegations that it violated the 1998 Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, as well as various state laws.
