TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, have agreed to pay $400 million to settle claims brought by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) over alleged violations of federal laws protecting children’s online privacy. The settlement, first reported by Axios, resolves a 2024 lawsuit accusing TikTok of breaching the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by allowing millions of children under 13 to use the platform without proper parental consent.

Key Takeaways

• TikTok and ByteDance will pay $400 million to settle DOJ allegations of COPPA violations.
• The settlement includes stronger age controls, additional safeguards for young users, and enhanced parental oversight.
• TikTok and ByteDance do not admit wrongdoing as part of the agreement.
• The 2024 case alleged TikTok collected personal information from underage users without parental consent and used it for targeted advertising.
• This is not TikTok’s first federal privacy action; a 2019 settlement with the FTC over Musical.ly’s COPPA violations cost $5.7 million.

Settlement Details and New Safeguards

Beyond the monetary payment, the settlement mandates stronger age-related controls and additional safeguards for children. The agreement also includes measures to give parents enhanced oversight of their children’s activity and personal information. However, the settlement does not require TikTok or ByteDance to admit wrongdoing.

Background of the 2024 Lawsuit

The lawsuit, filed in 2024 by the DOJ under the Biden administration, alleged that TikTok permitted millions of children under 13 to use the platform, collecting their personal information without the required parental consent. The government claimed that TikTok continued to struggle to identify and remove underage users, even after employees raised concerns. The case also alleged that TikTok maintained and used children’s information, including for targeted advertising, and changed aspects of its registration policies, making it more difficult to determine whether users were old enough to join.

Previous Federal Action in 2019

This is not the first time TikTok has faced federal action over children’s privacy. In 2019, TikTok agreed to pay $5.7 million to settle allegations that its predecessor, Musical.ly, had violated COPPA. As part of that agreement, TikTok committed to taking steps to prevent children under 13 from creating accounts.

Ongoing Scrutiny Over User Safety

The settlement comes as TikTok faces more scrutiny over its approach to user safety. Bloomberg reported that TikTok had intentionally disabled an algorithmic safeguard for roughly 10% of U.S. users as part of an experiment. The disabled safeguard was designed to reduce the possibility that users would be overwhelmed by harmful or potentially damaging content. The report drew criticism from lawmakers, including Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, who sent a letter to TikTok CEO Shou Chew and Adam Presser, the chief executive of TikTok’s U.S. business, questioning the decision.

For more information about COPPA and children’s online privacy, visit the Federal Trade Commission’s website.