TikTok’s child privacy failures come with a $400M price tag
A $400 million settlement for violating children’s privacy is no pocket change.
Image by Cybernews.
TikTok, its parent company ByteDance, and the US Department of Justice have reached a $400 million settlement to resolve a children’s privacy lawsuit.
Back in 2024, the Department of Justice, together with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), filed a civil lawsuit in California against TikTok, ByteDance, and their affiliates for violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
COPPA prohibits website operators from knowingly collecting, using, or disclosing personal information from children under the age of 13, unless they obtain consent from their parents.
Since the lawsuit was filed, TikTok has implemented several changes to strengthen safeguards for younger users, including enhanced age-related controls and strengthened parental oversight.
“Those developments have materially advanced the public interests underlying the department’s litigation and have strengthened protections for millions of American families,” the Department of Justice says in a press release.
Under the settlement, TikTok will pay $300 million immediately for violating COPPA regulations.
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In addition, the department has asked the court to rescind the 2019 agreement against TikTok’s predecessor, Musical.ly.
If the judge consents, TikTok will pay an additional $100 million.
“This settlement is a major victory for American children and parents,” Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr. said in a statement.
“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.”
In February 2026, the European Commission found TikTok guilty of adding addictive design elements in its app, such as infinite scrolling, autoplay, and push notifications, which is a breach of the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA).
If TikTok fails to make changes, it could face fines of up to 6% of its global annual turnover, which is estimated at tens of billions.
