SAN FRANCISCO, United States — TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, have agreed to pay $400 million to settle a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit accusing the video-sharing platform of violating federal children’s privacy laws, the department said Friday.
Under the settlement, TikTok will pay $300 million immediately and another $100 million after a court vacates a previous consent decree involving Musical.ly, the app ByteDance acquired in 2017 and later merged into TikTok.
The Justice Department described the settlement as one of the largest recoveries in a case involving the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA.
COPPA prohibits websites from collecting personal information from children younger than 13 without parental consent.
The Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission sued TikTok in 2024, alleging that the platform allowed children to use the service while collecting their personal information without notifying or obtaining permission from their parents.
The lawsuit also alleged that TikTok collected email addresses and other personal information from accounts created through a “Kids Mode” intended for users under 13.
The federal government previously sued Musical.ly in 2019 over alleged COPPA violations. ByteDance acquired the app in 2017 and later merged it with TikTok.
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The settlement comes as regulators in other countries increase scrutiny of TikTok’s handling of children’s safety and privacy.
The European Union opened a Digital Services Act investigation into TikTok in 2024 and said in July that the platform’s account settings may expose minors to risks including cyberbullying and predatory behavior.
The EU said children’s accounts should have the strongest privacy and safety protections by default.
Britain’s communications regulator Ofcom also opened an investigation in July into whether TikTok is meeting its legal obligations to protect children from harmful content, including whether its age-verification system is adequate.
It was not immediately clear how the U.S. settlement funds will be used.
