The court wants more information before ending a consent decree governing how the platform handles children’s data.
A federal judge has questioned part of a proposed $400 million settlement intended to resolve allegations that TikTok and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, violated federal protections for children’s privacy.
The Justice Department alleged that the companies knowingly collected personal information from users younger than 13 without obtaining parental consent and failed to honor parents’ requests to delete their children’s accounts and data.
Under the proposed agreement, TikTok and ByteDance would pay $300 million. An additional $100 million would be tied to ending a separate 2019 Federal Trade Commission consent decree.
U.S. District Judge George Wu asked the parties for more information about whether the settlement would provide a sufficiently durable remedy before releasing the companies from the earlier decree. His comments do not amount to a final rejection, and another hearing is expected.
TikTok and the Justice Department did not immediately comment on the judge’s concerns, Reuters reported. The companies agreed to the proposed settlement without admitting the government’s allegations.
The dispute follows broader scrutiny of technology companies’ treatment of minors. Read THRIVE!’s recent report on child-technology laws and a separate TikTok ruling.
