TikTok to pay $400 million settlement over child privacy claims in the US

TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, have agreed to a $400 million settlement to resolve a 2024 lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The lawsuit alleged that the platform illegally collected and used the personal data of millions of children under the age of 13 without obtaining proper parental consent, violating federal privacy protections.

The settlement terms dictate that the companies will pay $300 million immediately, with an additional $100 million due upon the termination of a 2019 consent decree. The legal action followed allegations that TikTok failed to verify user ages and allowed minors to create accounts, collecting sensitive information like email addresses even within a specialized mode designed for children. This case traces back to the acquisition of the app Musical.ly by ByteDance in 2017, which faced earlier legal scrutiny for similar violations.

This agreement marks one of the largest settlements reached regarding digital privacy for minors. The conclusion of this litigation serves to address claims that the platform exposed over 170 million users, including many underage individuals, to data harvesting practices that bypassed parental controls.