TikTok and ByteDance agree to $400 million DOJ settlement over children’s privacy claims
TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, have agreed to pay $400 million to settle a U.S. Department of Justice case accusing the platform of violating federal children’s online privacy protections.
The settlement resolves allegations that TikTok allowed millions of children under the age of 13 to use the app while collecting their personal information without obtaining proper parental consent. The lawsuit, filed in 2024, centered on claims that the company failed to comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, commonly known as COPPA.
Under the agreement, TikTok and ByteDance will pay the $400 million penalty and adopt new measures aimed at improving protections for younger users. These steps are expected to include stronger age-checking systems, expanded safeguards for children, and better tools that allow parents to monitor and manage their children’s personal data and activity on the platform.
The settlement does not require TikTok or ByteDance to admit wrongdoing.
The case added to a long-running dispute over how TikTok handles children’s privacy. Federal officials previously took action in 2019 over Musical.ly, the app that later became part of TikTok. At that time, the company agreed to pay $5.7 million to settle allegations that Musical.ly collected information from children under 13 without parental approval. As part of that earlier agreement, the company pledged to take steps to keep underage users from creating accounts.
However, the more recent DOJ complaint alleged that TikTok continued to face major problems identifying and removing children who were too young to use the service. Authorities claimed the company allowed underage users to stay on the platform for years and continued to maintain personal information tied to those accounts.
The allegations also said TikTok used data from young users in ways that could support targeted advertising, even after internal concerns were reportedly raised about children using the app. Federal officials further claimed that changes to TikTok’s registration process made it harder to confirm whether users met the minimum age requirement.
The settlement arrives at a time when TikTok is under increasing pressure over child safety, data privacy, and the way its recommendation system affects users. The platform has faced repeated questions from lawmakers, regulators, and parents about whether it does enough to protect minors from harmful content and privacy risks.
Recent scrutiny intensified after reports said TikTok had disabled an algorithmic safety feature for about 10% of users in the United States as part of a test. The feature was designed to reduce the chance that users could be repeatedly exposed to potentially harmful or overwhelming content.
That decision drew criticism from lawmakers in both parties. Senator Marsha Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee, and Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, sent a letter to TikTok leadership questioning why the safeguard had been turned off and how the company evaluates risks to users.
The $400 million settlement marks one of the most significant legal developments in TikTok’s ongoing privacy challenges in the United States. It also highlights the growing focus on children’s data protection as regulators push major technology platforms to strengthen age verification, parental controls, and transparency around how personal information is collected and used.
For TikTok, the agreement may help resolve one major legal battle, but it does not end the broader debate over the platform’s responsibilities to younger users. As children and teenagers continue to make up a large part of social media audiences, online safety and privacy rules are likely to remain a central issue for TikTok and the wider tech industry.
