TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance have agreed to a $400 million settlement to resolve a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2024. The Justice Department had accused the short-form video app of violating children's online privacy laws by illegally collecting information from users under the age of 13.
The lawsuit alleged that TikTok violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, which requires services aimed at children to obtain parental consent before collecting personal data. The Department of Justice claimed the company collected vast amounts of data on millions of children, leading to a settlement that is believed to be one of the largest ever over this issue.
Under the agreement, TikTok will pay $300 million immediately. A further $100 million is due upon the entry of an order vacating a prior consent decree entered with the Federal Trade Commission in 2019 against TikTok’s predecessor, Musical.ly.
Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr. called the settlement a major victory for American children and parents. The resolution comes amid a growing global crackdown on the app, though it has been noted that the U.S. never proved TikTok violated the law and that ByteDance is projected to earn $50 billion this year.