TikTok has agreed a $400 million TikTok children’s privacy settlement with the US Department of Justice, resolving a lawsuit that accused the platform and its parent company ByteDance of breaking federal laws protecting children online.
The Department of Justice announced Friday that $300 million will be paid immediately, with a further $100 million due once an order vacates an earlier consent decree against Musical.ly, TikTok’s predecessor company.
US Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. said: ‘This settlement is a major victory for American children and parents. 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.’
What the TikTok children’s privacy settlement covers
The DOJ’s case centred on allegations that TikTok and ByteDance violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), a 1998 federal law requiring child-oriented apps and websites to obtain parental consent before collecting personal data from under-13s.
Prosecutors also alleged the companies failed to act on parents’ requests to delete their children’s accounts, and kept accounts active even when they knew users were younger than 13.
According to Red Secure Tech, the government filed its complaint in August 2024, describing what it called ‘massive-scale invasions of children’s privacy’ by the platform.
Representatives for TikTok did not respond to a request for comment on Friday.
Ownership changes since the TikTok children’s privacy lawsuit was filed
Since the DOJ brought its case in 2024, TikTok’s US operations have undergone considerable restructuring. In January, the platform signed agreements with major investors including Oracle, Silver Lake and the Emirati investment firm MGX to form a new TikTok US joint venture.
The settlement arrives as social media companies face mounting legal pressure over how they handle younger users. Meta Platforms, owner of Instagram, is currently on trial in federal court in Oakland, California, over allegations it violated COPPA alongside various state statutes.
A growing number of countries have also moved to restrict or ban young people from social media apps entirely, adding political weight to the legal scrutiny facing the sector.
The vacating of the earlier Musical.ly consent decree, which will trigger the remaining $100 million payment, means the terms of the TikTok children’s privacy settlement are tied to the resolution of that older regulatory order.
