The US Justice Department sued TikTok and its parent company ByteDance in 2024, accusing the companies of failing to protect children’s privacy and illegally collecting their personal information.
The lawsuit alleged that TikTok violated a law requiring online services directed at children to obtain parental consent before collecting personal information from users under the age of 13.
Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said the Justice Department’s priority was to ensure children were protected online and that companies handling their personal data complied with legal requirements.
Under the settlement, TikTok will pay $300 million immediately, with an additional $100 million to be paid once a court order vacates a 2019 consent decree involving the Federal Trade Commission and TikTok’s predecessor, Musical.ly.
The FTC had previously found that Musical.ly knew young children were using the platform but failed to obtain parental consent before collecting their names, email addresses and other personal information. The company paid a $5.7 million fine in that case.
In January, ByteDance agreed to establish a majority American-owned joint venture aimed at securing US user data and avoiding a potential ban on TikTok, which is used by more than 200 million Americans.
The US government said TikTok had undergone significant changes in ownership, management, compliance operations and privacy practices since the original complaint was filed.
The Justice Department said the settlement would provide American families with stronger privacy protections while avoiding the delays and uncertainty associated with prolonged litigation.
In a court filing, TikTok’s US joint venture said all users are required to provide their date of birth to access the platform. The company also said it has developed advanced age-verification and moderation systems to identify users under 13 who provide false ages.
According to the filing, TikTok has hundreds of employees trained to detect underage users and removes tens of thousands of accounts belonging to children as a result.
