TikTok has agreed to pay $400 million to settle a lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice for allegedly violating children's privacy laws under COPPA, including immediate payment and enhanced user safeguards.
<figure>
<img alt="Vector art of the TikTok logo." data-caption="" data-portal-copyright="Image: The Verge" data-has-syndication-rights="1" src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25406817/STK051_TIKTOK_CVirginia_B.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0,0,100,100" />
<figcaption>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The US Department of Justice announced on Friday that TikTok will pay $400 million to settle a lawsuit filed <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2024/8/2/24212095/us-vs-tiktok-sue-children-privacy-law">in 2024</a> over allegedly violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). In the lawsuit, the DOJ alleged that TikTok collected data from children without notifying parents or obtaining consent and did not delete the accounts when parents requested.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">TikTok is set to pay $300 million right away and will pay a further $100 million "upon entry of an order vacating a prior consent decree entered against TikTok's predecessor, Musical.ly," the DOJ <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-secures-400m-settlement-tiktok-and-bytedance-resolve-childrens-privacy">says in a press release</a>. The settlement is "one of the largest recoveries ever o …</p>
<p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/983531/tiktok-settle-doj-lawsuit-coppa">Read the full story at The Verge.</a></p>
# TikTok will pay $400 million to settle DOJ child privacy lawsuit
Source: [https://www.theverge.com/tech/983531/tiktok-settle-doj-lawsuit-coppa](https://www.theverge.com/tech/983531/tiktok-settle-doj-lawsuit-coppa)
[](https://www.theverge.com/authors/jay-peters)
Jay Peters
is a senior reporter covering technology, gaming, and more\. He joined The Verge in 2019 after nearly two years at Techmeme\.
The US Department of Justice announced on Friday that TikTok will pay $400 million to settle a lawsuit filed[in 2024](https://www.theverge.com/2024/8/2/24212095/us-vs-tiktok-sue-children-privacy-law)over allegedly violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act \(COPPA\)\. In the lawsuit, the DOJ alleged that TikTok collected data from children without notifying parents or obtaining consent and did not delete the accounts when parents requested\.
TikTok is set to pay $300 million right away and will pay a further $100 million “upon entry of an order vacating a prior consent decree entered against TikTok’s predecessor, Musical\.ly,” the DOJ[says in a press release](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-secures-400m-settlement-tiktok-and-bytedance-resolve-childrens-privacy)\. The settlement is “one of the largest recoveries ever obtained in a COPPA case\.”
The DOJ also notes that TikTok has “undergone significant changes to its ownership, management, compliance functions, and privacy practices” since the lawsuit was filed and that TikTok has “implemented extensive measures designed to strengthen safeguards for younger users, improve age\-related controls, and enhance parental oversight\.”
TikTok didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment\. In January, the deal to put TikTok under a new joint ownership structure in the US[finally happened](https://www.theverge.com/tech/866437/tiktok-usds-bytedance-sale-oracle-mgx)\.
**Follow topics and authors**from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates\.
- Jay Peters
Snap, YouTube, and TikTok have settled the first lawsuit alleging social media addiction harmed students and strained school budgets, with terms undisclosed; Meta still faces trial in the same case.
Meta will pay up to $16.7 billion to settle a federal case over its failure to protect young users, and will implement new product changes for teen safety on Instagram and Facebook.
TikTok backed out of a congressional committee meeting to avoid questions on child safety practices, amid ongoing scrutiny over Chinese data access and following Meta's recent settlement.
A court has ordered Meta to pay $942 million to address harm to children from its social media platforms, marking a significant legal and regulatory development for the company.
Meta settled a lawsuit brought by a Kentucky school district over social media's impact on teen mental health, alongside similar settlements by YouTube, Snap, and TikTok.