US Justice Department and TikTok reach $500 million children’s privacy settlement

• The US Justice Department and TikTok have reached a $500 million settlement over allegations of violating children's online privacy.
• TikTok and ByteDance were accused of illegally collecting data from users under 13 without parental consent, violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.
• The lawsuit is dismissed with prejudice, and ByteDance agreed to form a majority American-owned joint venture to secure US user data and avoid a ban.

WASHINGTON - The US Department of Justice and TikTok have reached a US$400 million (S$500 million) settlement to resolve allegations the short-video app violated children’s online privacy.

The Justice Department sued TikTok and ByteDance in 2024 for allegedly failing to protect children’s privacy, and illegally collecting their information.

The defendants were accused of violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which requires services aimed at children to obtain parental consent to collect personal information from users under age 13.

The settlement was announced by the Justice Department.

A court filing shows that its lawsuit against TikTok and TikTok parent ByteDance is being dismissed with prejudice.

In January, ByteDance agreed to establish a majority American-owned joint venture to secure US data and avoid a US ban on the app used by more than 200 million Americans. REUTERS