China · Joe Biden · Meta · TikTok · YouTube · DOJ · BBC Technology
Other companies to have paid penalties to the US government for COPPA violations include Google's YouTube
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Meta is also now facing penalties that could exceed hundreds of billions of dollars stemming from COPPA violations alleged by attorneys general of 29 US states.
Key facts
- Other companies to have paid penalties to the US government for COPPA violations include Google's YouTube, which in 2019 paid $170m, and Epic Games, which in 2022 paid $275m
- TikTok has agreed to pay $400m (£293m) to the US to end a lawsuit alleging its platform violated children‘s privacy, marking one of the largest ever settlements over the issue
- As part of the agreement, the predecessor to ByteDance, Musical.ly, was required to pay a $5.7m fine for COPPA violations and ensure it sought parental consent for any user aged under 13
- Its US operations are now 81% owned by a consortium of investors, while Bytedance maintains a 19% stake
Summary
TikTok has agreed to pay $400m (£293m) to the US to end a lawsuit alleging its platform violated children‘s privacy, marking one of the largest ever settlements over the issue. The deal stems from a 2024 suit by the Department of Justice under former President Joe Biden alleging TikTok and its parent company ByteDance collected "vast amounts of data" on millions of users under the age of 13. Doing so was against the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), a federal law enacted in 2000. "Children and parents are better protected today than they were when this case began," assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate said. Other companies to have paid penalties to the US government for COPPA violations include Google's YouTube, which in 2019 paid $170m, and Epic Games, which in 2022 paid $275m.