TikTok’s proposed $400 million settlement over allegations involving children’s personal data is partly dependent on ending a 2019 regulatory order that a US judge has indicated he may refuse to vacate. TikTok and its parent company ByteDance agreed in August to resolve a Justice Department case alleging that the short-video service violated US children’s online privacy laws. The companies agreed to pay $300 million immediately, with a further $100 million due if a court ends the Federal Trade Commission consent decree imposed on TikTok’s predecessor, Musical.ly. The agreement does not require TikTok or ByteDance to admit wrongdoing.
US District Judge George H. Wu in Los Angeles said he was inclined to reject the request to end the decree and set a hearing for Monday. Judge Wu said that, without further information, the court “cannot determine that it constitutes a durable remedy or that termination is suitably tailored to the asserted change in circumstance.” The decree requires TikTok to maintain certain reporting and record-keeping duties through 2029.
The Justice Department announced on Friday that TikTok would pay $400 million to settle its 2024 lawsuit under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA. The department and the Federal Trade Commission brought the case against TikTok and ByteDance in 2024, alleging that the platform put children’s privacy at risk. COPPA requires online services directed at children to obtain parental consent before collecting personal information from users under 13. The Justice Department has described the settlement as one of the largest recoveries obtained in a COPPA case.
According to the government’s allegations, TikTok allowed millions of children under 13 to use the platform and collected their personal information without the required parental permission. The Justice Department also alleged that the company failed to remove accounts when parents asked it to do so. The agencies accused TikTok of knowingly allowing children under 13 to open accounts and of unlawfully collecting data from children using Kids Mode. The complaint further alleged that TikTok and ByteDance did not comply with requests from parents to delete their children’s accounts and information.
The case followed a 2019 Federal Trade Commission action involving Musical.ly, which was later folded into TikTok. The commission said Musical.ly knew young children used the app and did not obtain parental consent before collecting names, email addresses and other personal information. The Justice Department alleged that large numbers of children remained on TikTok for years after that earlier federal action. It also alleged that TikTok altered elements of its registration process in ways that made users’ age harder to establish.
TikTok disputed the allegations when the complaint was filed, saying many concerned “past events and practices” that were either “factually inaccurate or have been addressed.” The government said TikTok had since made significant changes to its ownership, management, compliance functions and privacy practices. The Justice Department said the company had also introduced extensive measures intended to improve protections for younger users, strengthen age-related controls and enhance parental oversight. The TikTok US joint venture said in a court filing that it requires all users to enter their date of birth and has developed age-moderation systems that identify children under 13 who misrepresented their age. The filing said TikTok has hundreds of staff trained in underage moderation and removes tens of thousands of underage accounts.
Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. called the agreement “a major victory for American children and parents.” Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate said: “The most important result is that children and parents are better protected today than they were when this case began.” Both sides filed a joint notice seeking permanent dismissal of the Justice Department lawsuit with prejudice, while Judge Wu indicated he would reject the request to end the earlier decree.
The case comes as TikTok remains under pressure over protections for younger users in other jurisdictions. Brussels opened a Digital Services Act investigation into TikTok in 2024. The EU accused the company in July of failing to protect children through account settings that could expose them to unwanted contact, cyberbullying or predatory behaviour. The United Kingdom also opened an investigation in July into whether TikTok is meeting its legal duties to protect children from harmful content.
In January, ByteDance agreed to create a majority American-owned joint venture intended to protect US user data and avert a US ban on an app used by more than 200 million Americans. Days before the settlement was announced, Bloomberg reported that TikTok had intentionally disabled an algorithmic safeguard for roughly 10% of US users as part of an experiment. The safeguard was designed to reduce the chance of users being overwhelmed by harmful or potentially damaging content. Senators Marsha Blackburn and Richard Blumenthal wrote to TikTok chief executive Shou Chew and Adam Presser, head of the company’s US business, to question that decision.
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