TikTok and its parent ByteDance have agreed to a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department valued at $400 million, one of the largest recoveries ever under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The deal ends a 2024 lawsuit accusing the platform of unlawfully collecting data from users under 13.
The agreement requires $300 million payable immediately and a further $100 million contingent on a court order vacating a 2019 consent decree against TikTok’s predecessor, Musical.ly. The DOJ and FTC alleged that TikTok allowed children to use the app and harvested personal information without parental consent, despite a “Kids Mode” that still collected emails and other data.
The settlement underscores intensifying regulatory scrutiny of social‑media firms, joining prior COPPA penalties against YouTube and Epic Games and arriving as Meta faces multi‑state lawsuits. It signals heightened enforcement risk for platforms that target or inadvertently attract under‑age users, without altering market valuations directly.
While two sources report the settlement at $400 million, an Australian outlet cites a figure of $559 million (a conversion of $400 million). The discrepancy reflects differing reporting of the settlement amount but does not change the payment schedule or the underlying legal findings.