TikTok agrees to $400m US settlement over children’s privacy

International

A $400 bill awaits TikTok in the US, where the social media platform has agreed to settle allegations that it violated federal protections for children’s personal data.

The settlement resolves a 2024 lawsuit by the Department of Justice (DOJ) against TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance. The government alleged the companies collected “vast amounts of data” from millions of users under 13 without complying with federal privacy requirements.

The case centred on the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), a 2000 law requiring online services to obtain parental consent before collecting personal information from children under 13.

Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate said in a BBC report that the settlement meant children and parents were now better protected than when the case began.

TikTok and ByteDance will pay the DOJ $300m immediately, with another $100m due once the government vacates a 2019 consent decree involving the Federal Trade Commission.

The settlement follows an earlier enforcement action against Musical.ly, TikTok’s predecessor. In 2019, Musical.ly was required to pay $5.7m over alleged COPPA violations and obtain parental consent for users under 13.

The DOJ did not detail further action against TikTok, but said the platform had undergone significant changes since the lawsuit was filed, including changes to its ownership, privacy practices and controls for younger users.

US attorneys alleged at the time that TikTok had more than 170 million teenage users and was aimed at children. They said the platform failed to effectively determine users’ ages or obtain parental consent from those under 13.

The case unfolds as major technology companies face increasing scrutiny over children’s data. Google’s YouTube paid $170m to settle COPPA allegations in 2019, while Epic Games agreed to pay $275m in 2022.

Meta is separately facing a lawsuit from attorneys general in 29 US states over alleged COPPA violations. A jury trial began this week.

The TikTok case predates last year’s separation of its US operations from its original China-based structure. Its US business is now 81% owned by a consortium of investors, with ByteDance retaining 19%.

The settlement follows years of US political pressure over TikTok’s ownership. In 2024, then-President Joe Biden backed legislation that could have forced a ban or divestment. President Donald Trump later supported divestment, which was completed last year.

A TikTok representative did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment.(MyTVCebu)