TikTok has reached a $400 million (£293m) settlement with the US Department of Justice (DOJ), ending a lawsuit that alleged the social media company illegally collected children’s data.
The 2024 lawsuit claimed that TikTok and its China-based parent company ByteDance collected children’s personal information of children under 13 without getting parental consent, which violates federal law.
It also said the companies failed to honour requests from parents who wanted their children’s accounts deleted, and chose not to delete accounts even when the firms knew they belonged to kids under 13.
The DOJ called the settlement a “major victory for children and parents” and said TikTok will pay $300 million immediately and another $100 million after an order vacates an earlier consent decree against its predecessor company, Musical.ly.
“The Department’s priority is ensuring that children are protected online and that companies entrusted with their personal information meet their legal obligations. This resolution secures a substantial recovery while reinforcing the protections that families expect and deserve”, it added.
Since the lawsuit was brought in 2024, TikTok has undergone major changes, including the company’s ownership structure of its US arm.
The app was due to be banned in the US in January 2025, but a deal was struck that saw the majority of its US operations sold to US investors. TikTok’s parent company ByteDance retained a 19.9% stake in the business.
The settlement comes as social media companies face an avalanche of lawsuits over children’s safety and privacy, and a growing number of countries are banning young kids and teens from social media apps.
Instagram and Facebook’s parent company, Meta Platforms, is currently on trial in federal court over allegations its contributing to a mental health crisis among young people by knowingly and deliberately designing features that addict children to its platforms and hides these harms from the public.
The lawsuit also argues that Meta routinely collects data on children under 13 without their parents’ consent, in violation of federal law. Meta says users must be at least 13 years old to create an account, in line with the law called the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA.
The trial pits Meta against the states of California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey and is expected to last about six weeks. The four states were among 29 that sued the tech giant in 2023 over child safety and privacy — the other 25 will go to trial later. The company also faces lawsuits in state courts, including one underway in Tennessee.
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