In brief
TikTok has agreed to pay $400 million ($293 million) to the U.S. Department of Justice to resolve a lawsuit alleging that the app violated children’s privacy by collecting large amounts of data on users under 13. The deal stems from a 2024 suit that accused TikTok and its parent company ByteDance of breaching the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), a federal law in place since 2000. The payment is rounded up to one of the biggest settlements for COPPA violations, following similar penalties paid by Google’s YouTube ($170 million) and Epic Games ($275 million). Under the terms, TikTok will pay an immediate $300 million and an additional $100 million when the U.S. Federal Trade Commission vacates a 2019 consent decree related to a prior fine. The settlement follows significant changes to TikTok’s ownership, privacy practices and control over young users, and reflects a broader U.S. push to tighten social‑media regulation for children.
TikTok has agreed to pay $400 million ($293 million) to the United States to settle a lawsuit alleging it violated children’s privacy under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
The lawsuit, filed in 2024 by the Department of Justice under former President Joe Biden’s administration, accused TikTok and its parent company ByteDance of collecting “vast amounts of data” from millions of users aged under 13, a practice prohibited by COPPA.
Under the settlement, TikTok will make an immediate payment of $300 million and a further $100 million once the government vacates a 2019 consent decree issued to the former platform Musical.ly. That decree had fined the company $5.7 million and required parental consent for every user under 13.
“Children and parents are better protected today than they were when this case began,” assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate said, highlighting the reforms TikTok has introduced in ownership, privacy settings and featured content for young users.
Other social‑media giants have also faced hefty fines for COPPA breaches: Google’s YouTube paid $170 million in 2019, and Epic Games paid $275 million in 2022.
Meta is now confronting penalties that could exceed hundreds of billions of dollars after lawsuits from 29 U.S. states claim the company profited off under‑age users on Instagram and Facebook.
The TikTok settlement involves only the company’s operations in China, as the U.S. business was sold to a consortium of investors in 2025, leaving ByteDance with a 19 percent stake.
A representative for TikTok did not comment on the settlement as the company said it had undertaken significant changes in response to the lawsuit and ongoing regulatory scrutiny.
For more on the trail of child‑privacy cases against technology firms, see the BBC’s coverage of the Meta trial and the history of U.S. regulation in the sector.
