TikTok has agreed to pay US$400 million to settle a lawsuit with the US Department of Justice over claims that the video-sharing platform contravened federal children’s privacy laws, the department announced on Friday.
Regulators around the world have been ramping up enforcement against social media companies that contravene laws about protecting children’s data, privacy and safety. Chinese company ByteDance — which sold off a majority stake of its US entity earlier this year to avoid a ban by the administration of US President Donald Trump — is also named as part of the settlement.
It has a 19.9 percent ownership stake in TikTok US, US media reported.
Photo: AFP
“Under the settlement, TikTok will pay $300 million immediately and an additional $100 million upon entry of an order vacating a prior consent decree entered against TikTok’s predecessor, Musical.ly,” the department said in a statement.
“[It is] one of the largest recoveries ever obtained” from a case involving the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the statement said.
The act bars Web sites from gathering the personal information of children younger than 13 without parental permission.
The justice department and US Federal Trade Commission jointly sued TikTok in 2024, alleging that it had placed the safety of millions of children in jeopardy by collecting their personal data without parental permission.
TikTok allowed children to use the app in addition to collecting and using personal data from young users without letting their parents know, they said.
Even accounts created in a “Kids Mode” intended for users younger than 13 gathered e-mail addresses and other personal information, the suit said.
In 2019, the US filed a COPPA lawsuit against an app called Musical.ly, which ByteDance bought in 2017 and then merged into TikTok.
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
An ABC News report in May said that the Trump administration was considering using the funds for ongoing “beautification” projects, which have included resurfacing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, renovating the White House ballroom and building an arch.
It was not immediately clear what the settlement funds would be used for.
The US settlement comes amid a growing global crackdown on the video app.
Brussels began a probe into TikTok in 2024 under the Digital Services Act (DSA) — a content law and major weapon in the EU’s boosted legal armory that it has deployed to rein in Big Tech over the past few years.
Last month, the EU accused TikTok of failing to protect children through account settings that could expose them to risks such as cyberbullying and predatory behavior, putting the company at risk of a large fine.
Minors’ accounts should only be visible to those they have given permission to, the EU said.
Children ages 13 and over can use TikTok.
“A high level of protection should not be an opt-in; it should be the default,” European Commissioner for Digital and Frontier Technologies Henna Virkkunen said at the time.
Under the DSA, children’s account settings have, by default, the strongest safety and security protections.
“TikTok’s account settings fail to meet this standard, as they expose minors’ accounts and content too widely,” the EU said in its preliminary view.
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