TikTok has agreed to pay $400 million to the United States to settle a lawsuit alleging that the platform violated children's privacy laws, according to court documents filed on [date]. The settlement, which still requires court approval, is one of the largest ever in a child privacy case.
The lawsuit, filed by the Department of Justice in [year], accused TikTok of collecting personal data from users under 13 without parental consent, in violation of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The company did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement.
Under the terms, TikTok will pay the $400 million penalty and implement new measures to better protect children's privacy, including age verification and data minimization practices. The settlement also requires independent audits for the next five years.
This is not TikTok's first privacy-related settlement. In 2019, the company paid $5.7 million to the Federal Trade Commission for similar violations involving the now-defunct Musical.ly app. The new settlement is significantly larger, reflecting the scale of the alleged violations.
The deal comes amid broader scrutiny of social media platforms and their impact on young users. Lawmakers have introduced several bills to strengthen online privacy protections for children, but none have passed as of this writing.
