# The US Department of Justice announced that TikTok and China’s ByteDance have agreed to pay 6.4-billion-rand to settle claims that the social media platform violated U.S. children’s online privacy laws. The agency sued TikTok in 2024, alleging that it violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act by collecting and retaining data from its young users without notifying parents or obtaining their consent. The lawsuit, which stemmed from a Federal Trade Commission investigation, claimed that TikTok had knowingly permitted children to create accounts and interact with adults on the platform since 2019.
TikTok to pay R6.4-bn to settle claims it violated children’s online privacy laws