TikTok has agreed to pay $400 million to settle a lawsuit with the US Department of Justice, international news agencies reported.
The settlement resolves federal charges alleging the video platform repeatedly violated children's online privacy laws.
Under the deal, TikTok will pay $300 million immediately and $100 million following a related court order.
Background
The US Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission jointly sued TikTok in 2024 over collecting data from children without parental permission.
Regulators claimed even "Kids Mode" accounts improperly gathered personal information like email addresses from young users.
The action builds on a 2019 case against Musical.ly under the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which parent company ByteDance bought and merged into TikTok.
Record Penalty
It marks one of the largest recoveries ever obtained under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.
ByteDance, which now holds a 19.9% stake in TikTok US, was also named as part of the agreement.
The settlement comes amid an accelerating global regulatory crackdown on social media companies regarding minor safety.
Global Crackdown
European Union regulators recently accused TikTok of failing to protect children default settings under the Digital Services Act.
EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen emphasized that high-level privacy protections for minors must be default, not opt-in.
Britain's communications regulator Ofcom launched its own investigation focusing heavily on TikTok's age-verification model.
Fund Allocation
It remains unclear how the US government intends to utilize the $400 million collected from the settlement.
Previous reports suggested the administration considered directing regulatory penalty funds toward national monument beautification projects.
International news agency AFP reported that TikTok did not immediately respond to requests for a comment regarding the finalized $400 million settlement agreement.
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