TikTok and its former Chinese parent company, ByteDance, have agreed to a $400m settlement to resolve allegations from the US Department of Justice (DoJ) that the short-form video app violated children's online privacy. The agreement was reached on Friday.
The DoJ sued TikTok and ByteDance in 2024, alleging they failed to protect children's privacy and illegally collected their information. The lawsuit claimed a violation of a law requiring online services aimed at children to obtain parental consent for collecting personal data from users under 13.
Under the terms of the settlement, TikTok will pay $300m immediately. An additional $100m will be paid once an order vacating a 2019 consent decree with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against TikTok's predecessor, Musical.ly, is entered. The FTC had previously stated that Musical.ly, then known as TikTok, was aware that young children used the app and had not obtained parental consent to collect their personal information, leading to a $5.7m fine.
Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward stated that the justice department's priority is to ensure children's online protection and that companies entrusted with their personal information meet their legal obligations. The DoJ noted that TikTok has undergone significant changes to its ownership, management, compliance functions, and privacy practices since the complaint was filed.