TikTok has agreed to pay $400 million (£293 million) to the US Department of Justice (DOJ), marking one of the largest ever settlements over child privacy violations.

The settlement stems from a 2024 lawsuit alleging TikTok and its parent company ByteDance collected vast amounts of data on millions of users under the age of 13, in violation of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

Other tech giants like Google's YouTube and Epic Games have also faced hefty fines for similar violations. Meta is currently facing potentially billions in penalties from COPPA violations alleged by attorneys general across 29 US states.

The TikTok lawsuit predates the company’s split of its US business from its Chinese base, but the settlement only involves TikTok's operations in China. ByteDance, a privately held company valued at $550 billion, will pay $300 million immediately and another $100 million when the government vacates a 2019 consent decree with the Federal Trade Commission.

Since the lawsuit was filed, TikTok has undergone significant changes, including to its ownership structure, privacy practices, and platform controls for young users. The company has now shifted 81% of its US operations to a consortium of investors, while ByteDance retains a 19% stake.