US Justice Department Lawsuit: TikTok Must Pay $400 Million
The US government accused TikTok of illegally collecting data from children. The investigation is now ending following a change of ownership in the US business and a payment of several hundred million dollars.
The short-video platform TikTok is paying $400 million to settle investigations by US authorities into the collection of children's data. The settlement does not include an admission of guilt, as the US Justice Department announced. It noted that TikTok has made significant changes to its privacy policies and business practices since the lawsuit was filed in 2024. TikTok initially declined to comment on the settlement.
The Justice Department had sued TikTok in 2024, during the administration of Donald Trump's predecessor in the White House, Joe Biden. The allegation was that the platform had allowed children under the age of 13 to create accounts without parental consent. The agency argued that this constituted a violation of the children's online privacy law.
TikTok Averts Ban in the United States
American online platforms established a general minimum age of 13 under the law. At the same time, it continues to occur that children set up profiles using a false date of birth. Critics accuse the companies of not taking sufficiently decisive action against this practice.
The lawsuit alleged that TikTok had also collected email addresses and other personal information from accounts created in "kids mode" for users under 13. "TikTok knowingly and repeatedly violated children's privacy, endangering the safety of millions of children across the country," the plaintiffs stated. TikTok had denied the allegations.
US President Trump had ensured that TikTok's US business was transferred to a majority stake held by a new company with American investors at the start of 2026. This allowed TikTok to avert a ban in the United States. Under a US law, TikTok's China-based owner ByteDance was required to divest at least its US operations in order for the app to remain active in the country. In the rest of the world, ByteDance remains in control.
