The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced a $400m settlement with TikTok over concerns that the platform violated children’s online privacy. The DOJ said on Friday it had entered into a settlement with TikTok, ByteDance and affiliated entities over compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

Settlement Includes $300m Now and $100m After Court Action

TikTok will pay the DOJ $300m immediately and an additional $100m after a court cancels a previous settlement made with TikTok’s predecessor, Musical.ly, though the DOJ had sued TikTok and ByteDance in 2024. The department said TikTok knowingly permitted children to create regular accounts and share content with others on the platform without parental consent.

Major Victory for American Children and Parents

“This settlement is a major victory for American children and parents,” Associate Attorney General Stanley E Woodward Jr said in a news release — “The Department’s priority is ensuring that children are protected online and that companies entrusted with their personal information meet their legal obligations. This resolution secures a substantial recovery while reinforcing the protections that families expect and deserve.”

In January, ByteDance agreed to create a majority US-owned joint venture to secure domestic data and avoid a US ban on the app used by more than 200 million Americans. The DOJ said that since it took TikTok to court, the company has made drastic changes and strengthened safeguards to protect children’s privacy.

Settlement Marks One of the Largest of Its Kind

This is one of the largest settlements over child privacy violations in the US; other companies to have paid penalties for COPPA violations include Google’s YouTube, which paid $170m in 2019, and Epic Games, which paid $275m in 2022. 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.

The DOJ did not detail any action against TikTok beyond the fine. However, the department noted that since it sued the platform, TikTok has “undergone significant changes,” including to its ownership, privacy practices, and platform controls for young users. When the lawsuit was filed, attorneys for the US said there were more than 170 million teenagers using TikTok and that the app was “directed to children.” Yet, it did not effectively gauge the age of users or get parental consent for use from those underage.

In 2024, former President Joe Biden pushed for TikTok to be either banned or have the company divest its US operations, and President Donald Trump supported divestment of the app, which occurred last year. Its US operations are now 81% owned by a consortium of investors, while ByteDance maintains a 19% stake — a representative of TikTok did not respond to the BBC for comment.