TikTok has reached an agreement to pay $400 million, approximately £293 million, to the United States to resolve a lawsuit alleging that the platform violated children's privacy. The settlement ranks among the largest ever recorded regarding this legal issue. The lawsuit centered on violations of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), a federal law established in 2000 that governs how online services collect data from minors.
Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate noted that the settlement represents progress, stating, "Children and parents are better protected today than they were when this case began." The Department of Justice, while not detailing further actions against the platform beyond the fine, acknowledged that TikTok has implemented significant changes since the initial filing, particularly regarding platform controls for younger users, privacy practices, and ownership structure.
When the litigation was initiated, the US government alleged that TikTok, which had over 170 million teenage users at the time, was "directed to children" but failed to effectively verify user ages or secure parental consent for underage accounts. As part of the broader history of the case, Musical.ly, the predecessor to ByteDance, was previously required to pay a $5.7 million fine for similar COPPA violations and was mandated to ensure parental consent for users under 13.
The current settlement specifically involves TikTok’s operations in China. Although the lawsuit predates the structural split of the platform's US business, the company's US operations are now 81% owned by a consortium of investors, with ByteDance, a firm recently valued at $550 billion, maintaining a 19% stake. This transition followed efforts by former President Joe Biden and subsequent support from President Donald Trump for the divestment of the app's US operations.
The legal landscape regarding COPPA remains active, as numerous US states are currently suing Meta over similar privacy allegations. Meta faces potential penalties that could reach hundreds of billions of dollars, with a jury trial regarding claims that it targeted and profited from child users beginning this week. Other major technology firms have previously settled similar government claims, including YouTube, which paid $170 million in 2019, and Epic Games, which paid $275 million in 2022. A representative for TikTok did not provide a comment regarding the latest settlement.
TikTok has been under pressure in the US since 2024.
Its US operations are now 81% owned by a consortium of investors, while Bytedance maintains a 19% stake.
