Settlement covers only TikTok’s China operations, not divested US entity
TikTok and its parent company ByteDance have agreed to pay $400 million to resolve the Department of Justice’s allegations that the video platform built a user base that included millions of children under 13 without obtaining verifiable parental consent, in a settlement the BBC described as one of the largest children’s privacy cases ever.
The 2024 lawsuit, filed under former President Joe Biden, alleged TikTok and ByteDance collected “vast amounts of data” on users below the age threshold set by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA — a federal law enacted in 2000. Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate said in a statement that “children and parents are better protected today than they were when this case began,” citing changes to TikTok’s ownership, privacy practices, and platform controls for young users.
Under the settlement’s terms, TikTok and ByteDance will pay the DOJ $300 million immediately and an additional $100 million once the government vacates a 2019 consent decree TikTok entered into with the Federal Trade Commission. That earlier decree required TikTok’s predecessor, Musical.ly, to pay a $5.7 million fine and ensure parental consent for any user under 13.
The $400 million total ranks among the largest COPPA penalties against major US technology companies. Google paid $170 million to settle a similar Justice Department action in 2019; Epic Games paid $275 million in 2022. Dozens of US states are now suing Meta under the same law.
When the lawsuit was filed, US attorneys estimated that more than 170 million teenagers used TikTok and characterized the app as “directed to children.” The complaint alleged the platform did not effectively gauge users’ ages or collect parental consent for those underage.
The settlement applies only to TikTok’s China-based operations. It does not cover the US business that was spun off from ByteDance in 2025 — a transaction completed after former President Biden in 2024 pushed for either an outright ban or divestiture, and President Donald Trump subsequently endorsed divestment. The US entity is now 81% owned by a consortium of investors, with ByteDance retaining a 19% stake.
The Justice Department did not announce additional enforcement action against TikTok beyond the financial penalty on Friday. A representative for TikTok did not respond to a BBC request for comment.