TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, have agreed to pay $400 million to resolve a legal action brought by the United States government over allegations that the social media platform violated federal laws protecting children’s online privacy.

The US Department of Justice announced the settlement on Friday, describing it as one of the largest financial recoveries secured in a case involving the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

Under the agreement, TikTok will make an immediate payment of $300 million, while the remaining $100 million will become payable after a court order is entered to vacate an earlier consent decree involving Musical.ly, the platform’s predecessor.

COPPA prohibits online services from collecting personal information from children under 13 without obtaining consent from their parents.

The Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission filed the lawsuit against TikTok in 2024, accusing the company of collecting and using children’s personal information without adequately informing or obtaining permission from their parents.

The authorities alleged that children were able to access and use TikTok while the platform collected their personal data.

The government further claimed that the alleged practices extended to accounts created through TikTok’s “Kids Mode”, a feature designed for users under the age of 13. According to the lawsuit, the accounts could still involve the collection of information such as email addresses and other personal details.

The case also stems from an earlier legal action involving Musical.ly, a social media application acquired by ByteDance in 2017 before being integrated into TikTok.

The US government had filed a COPPA-related lawsuit against Musical.ly in 2019.

TikTok had not issued a public response to the settlement at the time of the Justice Department’s announcement.