A federal judge in Los Angeles said he was inclined to reject part of TikTok and ByteDance’s proposed US$400 million settlement with the US Justice Department over allegations the app violated US children’s online privacy law.

In the August deal, the companies agreed to pay US$300 million upfront and another US$100 million if the court ended a 2019 Federal Trade Commission consent decree tied to Musical.ly, TikTok’s predecessor.

But US District Judge George H. Wu said the court did not have enough detail to decide whether ending that order would provide a durable remedy.

The decree requires TikTok to keep certain reporting and record-keeping obligations through 2029.

The separate 2024 case came from a Justice Department lawsuit that accused TikTok and ByteDance of violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA.

The Federal Trade Commission said in 2019 that Musical.ly failed to get parental consent before collecting personal information from users under 13.

The proposed payout is far above the US$5.7 million settlement Musical.ly reached with the Federal Trade Commission in 2019.

🔗 Source: Reuters

Recent TikTok developments