TikTok just got slapped with a $400 million penalty for allegedly scooping up children's personal data.
The U.S. Justice Department dropped the hammer on Friday, announcing a blockbuster settlement with TikTok, its parent company ByteDance, and related entities over violations of federal children's privacy laws. As reported, the social media titan must fork over $300 million right away, with another $100 million due once a court vacates a previous consent decree tied to Musical.ly, the app ByteDance gobbled up and folded into TikTok.
The feds are calling this one of the biggest recoveries ever in a case involving the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, better known as COPPA. And honestly? The details are pretty jaw dropping.
Here is what prosecutors alleged. Starting in 2019, TikTok and ByteDance knowingly let kids younger than 13 set up regular accounts on the platform. We are talking full access. These children could create videos, watch content, and exchange messages with adults and other users. All while the companies were allegedly hoovering up personal information, including names, email addresses, phone numbers, and more, without ever bothering to tell parents or get their permission.
It gets worse. Even in so called "Kids Mode," a stripped down version supposedly built for younger users, the complaint claimed that TikTok was still illegally collecting email addresses and other private data. And when parents caught on and demanded their children's accounts and information be wiped? The companies routinely ignored those requests, according to the allegations.
Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. did not mince words. He called the settlement "a major victory for American children and parents" and stressed that the DOJ's top concern is making sure companies handling kids' data actually follow the law.
Now, let's rewind a bit, because TikTok has been down this road before. Back in 2019, Musical.ly paid $5.7 million to settle similar COPPA violations. That was the largest penalty of its kind at the time. As part of that deal, the company agreed to a consent decree requiring ongoing compliance with children's privacy rules. The 2024 lawsuit that led to this new settlement alleged that TikTok kept right on breaking those promises.
The original civil suit was filed in federal court in California's Central District and handled by the DOJ's Civil Division on referral from the Federal Trade Commission. Importantly, these remain allegations only, with no formal finding of liability as part of the settlement.
COPPA has been on the books since 1998, requiring websites and online services that cater to children under 13, or that know they are gathering data from minors, to notify parents and obtain clear consent before collecting any personal information. The law also mandates that companies honor parental requests to delete kids' accounts and data.
From $5.7 million to $400 million. That is quite the escalation. Maybe this time TikTok will actually get the message.
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