Washington, 22 August (H.S.): TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, have agreed to pay $400 million to the US Department of Justice to resolve a case concerning the online privacy of children. The US Justice Department described the settlement as a significant step towards protecting children and their parents online.

According to Türkiye’s state-run Anadolu news agency, TikTok will immediately pay $300 million to the Justice Department. The remaining $100 million will be paid after a court vacates an earlier consent order related to Musical.ly, the previous version of TikTok.

The US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against TikTok and ByteDance in 2024, alleging that the platform had violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

The case alleged that TikTok allowed children under the age of 13 to create accounts and failed to delete their accounts and personal information despite requests from their parents.

US Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr. said the settlement represented a major victory for American children and parents. He said the department’s priority was to protect children online and hold companies accountable for complying with their legal obligations.

According to the Justice Department, TikTok has made significant changes to its ownership structure, management, compliance systems and privacy practices since the lawsuit was filed.

The department said TikTok’s US operations are now controlled by TikTok USDS Joint Venture, in which American investors hold a majority stake.

TikTok and ByteDance have long faced scrutiny in the United States over national security and data privacy concerns. A US law passed in 2024 gave ByteDance the option of divesting its stake in TikTok or facing a potential ban on the app in the United States.

A major source of concern among US officials has been ByteDance’s ties to China. American authorities have expressed fears that data belonging to US users could potentially be accessed by the Chinese government through TikTok. TikTok and ByteDance have rejected these allegations.

Under the new settlement, the $400 million payment, along with changes to the company’s privacy measures, is being viewed as a significant step towards resolving the dispute over the protection of children’s data and online privacy in the United States.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar