TikTok Agrees to $400 Million Settlement Over Children’s Data Privacy Violations
The historic penalty resolves federal claims that the app illicitly collected data from users under 13.
TikTok and its parent firm ByteDance have agreed to pay $400 million to settle a federal lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice over widespread violations of children’s digital privacy laws.
The video-sharing platform will remit $300 million immediately to the U.S. Treasury. A remaining $100 million installment depends on court approval vacating a prior consent order established with the Federal Trade Commission.
Federal prosecutors filed the suit in 2024 under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, citing three violations: enabling underage account creation without parental consent, gathering personal information from children in the platform’s designated Kids Mode, and repeatedly ignoring deletion requests from parents.
A corporate restructuring completed last year isolated the platform’s American operations from its Chinese parent. Control of the newly created TikTok USDS Joint Venture transitioned to a consortium of American investors — Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX — leaving ByteDance with a 19.9 percent minority stake.
The Office of Management and Budget separately decided to allow federal employees to resume using the application on government-issued devices. Justice Department officials said the corporate changes and updated safety features materially advanced public interests and enhanced digital safeguards for American families.
