TikTok dodges US trial over children’s data

The social media platform will pay $400 mn in an out-of-court settlement over claims that it violated minors’ personal data protections

TikTok and its parent company ByteDance have agreed to pay $400 million to settle a US government lawsuit accusing the social media platform of illegally collecting children’s personal data.

The out-of-court settlement, announced by the US Department of Justice on Friday, ends the case without the allegations being tested at trial and without any determination of liability.

The case was brought in 2024 under the Biden administration by the DOJ and Federal Trade Commission. The government accused TikTok of knowingly allowing millions of children under age 13 to create regular accounts and collecting and retaining their personal information without parental consent.
It also alleged that TikTok frequently failed to delete children’s accounts and data when requested by parents.

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The resolution comes against the backdrop of US President Donald Trump’s dramatic reversal on TikTok. During his first term, Trump sought to effectively ban the Chinese-owned platform on national security grounds unless ByteDance relinquished control of its US operations. By the 2024 presidential campaign, however, he opposed efforts to ban it, arguing that its disappearance would benefit rival Meta.

“If you get rid of TikTok, Facebook and Zuckerschmuck will double their business,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in March 2024, referring to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. “I don’t want Facebook, who cheated in the last Election, doing better. They are a true Enemy of the People!”

Trump has feuded with Meta for years, accusing Facebook of political bias and censorship even before it suspended his accounts following the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot. The feud intensified after the suspension, with Trump repeatedly accusing the company of interfering in US elections.

The tone of Friday’s DOJ announcement also contrasts sharply with that used when the case was launched. In 2024, the department described TikTok and ByteDance as “repeat offenders” operating “on a massive scale.” The Trump administration’s DOJ, by contrast, highlighted “significant changes” to TikTok’s ownership, management, compliance and privacy practices.

READ MORE: Whoever wins the Meta trial, the masses will remain willing slaves

Since returning to the White House last year, Trump has repeatedly intervened to prevent TikTok from being forced out of the US under a 2024 divest-or-ban law. His administration delayed enforcement several times while a restructuring was negotiated, ultimately backing a new US-based joint venture majority-owned by American investors that allowed TikTok to continue operating.

The delays were controversial, as the law provided for one extension of up to 90 days under specified conditions, while Trump repeatedly directed the Justice Department not to enforce it.