ZOAHARIAN.COM – TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, agreed to pay US$400 million or around Rp. 6.3 trillion to the United States government to end a lawsuit related to alleged violations of children's privacy.

The agreement became one of the largest settlements in the US related to the protection of children's data on the internet.

This case stems from a lawsuit by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2024, during the administration of former President Joe Biden. In the lawsuit, TikTok and ByteDance are accused of collecting large amounts of data from millions of users under the age of 13.

This practice is considered to violate the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), a US federal law enacted since 2000 to protect children's personal information when using online services.

“Children and parents are better protected today than when this case began,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett Shumate.

Pay US$300 Million Upfront

Under the agreement reached, TikTok and ByteDance will pay US$300 million to the Department of Justice in the near future.

Meanwhile, an additional payment of US$100 million will be made after the US government reversed a consent decree issued in 2019 by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

The case relates to Musical.ly, an application that was later acquired and became part of TikTok.

Previously, Musical.ly was required to pay a fine of US$5.7 million for COPPA violations and ensure parental permission for users under 13 years old.

Not the First Case in the US

TikTok is not the only technology company that has had to deal with the US government regarding the protection of children's data.

Google through YouTube in 2019 paid US$170 million to settle a case related to COPPA. Meanwhile, Epic Games, developer of the Fortnite game, paid US$275 million in 2022.

The TikTok case also comes as other big tech companies face similar legal pressure.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is currently facing lawsuits from attorneys general in 29 US states. They accused Meta of using various practices deemed to target child users and profit from their engagement on the platform.

The hearing of the matter has begun and has the potential to result in a very large sentence if Meta is found guilty.

TikTok US Changes After Lawsuit

The DOJ said TikTok had undergone a number of significant changes since the lawsuit was filed in 2024.

These changes cover aspects of company ownership, privacy practices, as well as monitoring and control systems for young users.

At the time the lawsuit was filed, the US government assessed that TikTok had a very large user base and did not effectively ensure users' ages or obtain parental consent from children who used the platform.

The issue of ownership of TikTok in the US has also changed after the United States government pushed for the separation of the TikTok business from ByteDance.

Currently, TikTok's operations in the United States are largely in the hands of a consortium of investors, while ByteDance still maintains partial ownership.

The US$400 million deal marks a new chapter in a long feud between the US government and TikTok over data security, the privacy of young users and the influence of foreign technology companies in the US market.

The case also underscores increasing pressure from US regulators on social media companies to tighten child protection amid the growing use of digital platforms by the younger generation.

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