TikTok and ByteDance Pay $400 Million to Settle COPPA Lawsuit
The settlement closes a two-year DOJ case with a payment the department calls among the largest ever obtained in a COPPA suit, and its structure ties the final $100 million to the fate of the earlier Musical.ly consent judgment.
Reporting from 1 source: GIGAZINE.
The US Department of Justice announced on August 21, 2026 that TikTok, ByteDance, and related companies agreed to pay $400 million to resolve a lawsuit over alleged violations of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. The DOJ filed the suit in August 2024, accusing the companies of illegally collecting data on millions of children. TikTok will pay $300 million immediately and $100 million more once a prior consent judgment against Musical.ly is vacated.
TikTok will pay $300 million immediately and the remaining $100 million when a court order vacates the consent judgment previously entered against Musical.ly, the video sharing service TikTok merged with in November 2017. The Federal Trade Commission had found that features carried over from Musical.ly into the TikTok app violated COPPA.
Since the DOJ filed suit in 2024, TikTok has changed its ownership, management, compliance functions, and privacy practices, and has taken steps to strengthen protections for young users, improve age restrictions, and expand parental oversight. The DOJ described the settlement as among the largest ever obtained in a COPPA case.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.