TikTok and ByteDance will pay $400 million to resolve US claims they collected data from children under 13 without parental consent. The settlement follows a 2019 FTC consent decree and a restructuring of TikTok's US operations.
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TikTok and its Chinese parent ByteDance agreed to pay $400 million to resolve US allegations that the platform violated children's online privacy laws.
The Justice Department sued the companies in 2024, claiming they failed to protect children's privacy and unlawfully collected personal information from users under 13. The case centered on alleged breaches of a US law requiring online services aimed at children to get parental consent before collecting data.
Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said the department's priority "is ensuring that children are protected online and that companies entrusted with their personal information meet their legal obligations."
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Under the proposed settlement, TikTok will pay $300 million upfront. Another $100 million will be paid once a court order vacates a 2019 consent decree with the Federal Trade Commission involving Musical.ly, TikTok's predecessor.
The FTC alleged at the time that Musical.ly knew young children were using the platform but did not obtain parental consent before collecting names and email addresses. The company paid a $5.7 million penalty in that case.
The latest settlement follows changes to TikTok's US operations. In January, ByteDance agreed to set up a majority American-owned joint venture to secure US user data and avoid a potential nationwide ban on an app used by more than 200 million Americans.
The government said TikTok has made substantial changes to its ownership, management, compliance systems and privacy practices since the original complaint. The Justice Department said the settlement "ensures that American families continue to benefit from stronger protections without the delay and uncertainty of protracted litigation."
In a separate filing, TikTok's US joint venture said all users must provide their date of birth before accessing the platform. The company also said it has built age-moderation systems to spot children under 13 who entered a false age.
TikTok said it now has hundreds of employees trained to moderate underage accounts and removes tens of thousands of such accounts as a result.
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