TikTok Inc. and Chinese parent ByteDance Ltd. agreed to pay $400 million to resolve a a Biden-era lawsuit by the Justice Department accusing the popular social media app of collecting data on children in violation of an online privacy law.
The settlement, which requires court approval, comes several months after ByteDance closed a long-awaited deal to transfer parts of its US operations to American investors to resolve national security concerns.
The Justice Department sued TikTok in 2024 on behalf of the Federal Trade Commission, alleging the company allowed millions of children under the age of 13 to create accounts without their parents’ knowledge or consent while making it difficult for parents to request the deletion of those accounts.The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
TikTok will pay $300 million at first and $100 million more once an order is filed vacating a prior consent decree against TikTok’s predecessor, Musical.ly. DOJ said the settlement was among the largest in a case involving the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.“This settlement is a major victory for American children and parents,” Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said in a statement. “The department’s priority is ensuring that children are protected online and that companies entrusted with their personal information meet their legal obligations. This resolution secures a substantial recovery while reinforcing the protections that families expect and deserve.”Under the terms of the settlement, TikTok would no longer be subject to court oversight of its privacy practices. Since DOJ filed its suit, TikTok has undergone significant changes to in ownership and privacy policies and has taken steps to strengthen safeguards for young users by improving age-related controls and increasing parental oversight, according to the statement.For half a decade, TikTok and Beijing-based ByteDance weathered a geopolitical and regulatory tug-of-war that threatened to shut down the platform in the US over national security concerns. President Donald Trump attempted to ban the app in 2020 during his first term, but was stymied by the courts.Congress passed legislation in 2024 to ban the app unless ByteDance sold TikTok, citing concerns that the Chinese government could abuse US user data or use the app to push narratives preferred by Beijing.After multiple delays, the Trump administration brokered a deal to address the national security concerns and allow the TikTok app to keep operating in the US. The deal, which closed in January, moved parts of TikTok’s US business from control by ByteDance to a new, American-led and majority American-owned TikTok venture.What the TikTok Deal Means for the App’s Future in US: QuickTake
