The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has announced that TikTok, owned by ByteDance, will pay $400 million to settle a lawsuit accusing the company of violating child privacy laws. This lawsuit, filed in 2024, alleged that TikTok allowed children under 13 to create accounts and unlawfully collected data from users in “Kids Mode.” As part of the settlement, TikTok will pay $300 million immediately, with an additional $100 million contingent upon the vacating of a prior consent decree against its predecessor, Musical.ly.
The complaint, filed alongside the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), claimed that TikTok engaged in “massive-scale invasions of children’s privacy” and failed to comply with parents’ requests to delete their children’s accounts. TikTok has disputed these allegations, stating that many were based on outdated practices.
The DoJ characterized this settlement as one of the largest recoveries under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The department noted that TikTok has since implemented measures to enhance safeguards for younger users and improve parental oversight. Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. stated, “This settlement is a major victory for American children and parents,” emphasizing the importance of protecting children online.
This settlement follows a €345 million fine imposed on TikTok in September 2023 for violating the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) regarding children’s data. Earlier this year, a U.S. joint venture allowed TikTok to continue operating in the country without a ban, in compliance with a divest-or-ban law upheld by the Supreme Court.
For further details, you can read the full report by The Hacker News.
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