TikTok and its parent company ByteDance have agreed to pay $400 million to resolve a federal lawsuit over widespread violations of children’s privacy law. The settlement, announced by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission, is one of the largest recoveries ever secured under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
The original lawsuit, filed in 2024, alleged that TikTok allowed children under 13 to create standard accounts, collected their personal data without parental consent, and failed to delete that data when parents requested it. Under the settlement terms, TikTok will pay $300 million immediately and an additional $100 million upon entry of an order vacating a prior consent decree against TikTok’s predecessor, Musical.ly. TikTok does not admit wrongdoing. Going forward, the company must implement improved age verification controls and expand parental oversight tools.