TikTok to Pay $400M in Landmark US Child Privacy Settlement
· Technology · BBC News, LiveMint, Al Jazeera
TikTok has agreed to pay $400 million to the US Department of Justice to settle a lawsuit alleging violations of children's privacy laws, one of the largest settlements of its kind. The lawsuit, filed in 2024, claimed that TikTok and its parent company ByteDance collected vast amounts of data on millions of users under the age of 13 without parental consent, violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. The settlement only applies to TikTok's operations in China, requiring an immediate payment of $300 million to the DOJ, with an additional $100 million due when a 2019 consent decree with the Federal Trade Commission is vacated. As part of the agreement, ByteDance's predecessor Musically must pay a $5.7 million fine and ensure parental consent for underage users. The justice department noted significant changes at TikTok since the suit was filed, including shifts in ownership, privacy practices, and platform controls for younger users. Despite these changes, no further action
Why it matters
The settlement reinforces COPPA enforcement and sets a precedent for how major tech platforms handle child data globally, including in markets like India where similar concerns over data privacy are rising. It also reflects growing regulatory pressure on social media companies to protect minors from data harvesting, potentially influencing future Indian laws or actions against platforms operating locally.
Read the original report — BBC News
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