It's a practice that has become known as shadow banning, when TikTok quietly demotes someone's videos, and black creators like Doumbia feel like the app is targeting them.
Corporate conductConfirmedAgainst
TikTok sponsors climate deniers
TikTok sponsors climate deniers, contradicting its climate pledges.
Alabama originally sued TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance in April 2025, alleging the app was engineered to hook young users “just like a sophisticated gambling machine”.
Corporate conductSettlementAgainst
TikTok settles $100 million youth safety claim
TikTok reached a $100 million settlement with Alabama over youth safety issues.
While the TikTok said problems identified with the platform are being addressed, California Governor Gavin Newsom has nevertheless announced an investigation into claims TikTok has censored content which is critical of the Trump administration.
The watchdog's probe will cover concerns raised in its two reports on children's experiences online and age assurance that age inference models used by TikTok.
NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today released the following statement after New York State Supreme Court Judge Anar Rathod Patel denied TikTok’s motion to dismiss her lawsuit against the company for harming young people’s mental health:
The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal from the Data Protection Commission (DPC) on a point of law arising from the commission’s decision to fine social media giant TikTok €530 million and direct it to stop sending user data to China.
Speech & moderationConfirmedYou decide
TikTok bans Israeli ultranationalist influencer over hate speech
TikTok banned an Israeli ultranationalist influencer for hate speech violations.
Since then, TikTok has introduced new tools — including comment filters and a mass-blocking feature — to try to foster a safe environment for creators.
Corporate conductConfirmedAgainst
TikTok investigated by UK watchdog over children's data
TikTok investigated by UK watchdog over use of children's data.
“We write regarding disgusting new reports that TikTok knowingly withheld a critical safety measure for millions of American users — including children — in order to determine whether protecting users would impact its financial bottom-line,” the four-page letter began.
where TikTok has “withheld, disabled, delayed, or reduced a safety feature,” the number of users involved and how many were minors.
Labor & working conditionsConfirmedAgainst
TikTok union busting
TikTok lays off essential safety workers, putting user safety at risk.
The moderators wanted to establish a collective bargaining unit to protect themselves from the personal costs of checking extreme and violent content, and have claimed TikTok is guilty of unfair dismissal and breaching trade union laws.
Sacked TikTok workers in UK launch legal action over ‘union busting’ | TikTok | The Guardian
She said by “laying off essential safety workers they are putting the platforms’ users at risk”, adding: “TikTok has made its position clear: union busting and trampling on our labour laws comes first – the safety of its users, including millions of children, and the wellbeing of its essential safety workers, comes last.
Privacy & surveillanceAllegationAgainst
Britain’s data protection authority issued a $15.9 million fine to TikTok for failing to abide
Moreover, in 2023, Britain’s data protection authority issued a $15.9 million fine to TikTok because the platform had failed to abide by data protection rules intended to safeguard children online.
Moreover, in 2023, Britain’s data protection authority issued a $15.9 million fine to TikTok because the platform had failed to abide by data protection rules intended to safeguard children online.
COMPLAINT
Privacy & surveillanceConfirmedAgainst
TikTok violated Texas consumer protection law
TikTok violated a Texas consumer protection law by making misleading statements about its efforts to prevent minors from viewing inappropriate content, a state judge ruled.
A Texas judge on Thursday ruled the social media platform TikTok misled consumers about the company’s efforts to filter inappropriate content for minors.
TikTok violated a Texas consumer protection law by making misleading statements regarding its efforts to prevent minors from viewing "inappropriate" content, a state judge ruled Thursday.
Privacy & surveillanceRulingAgainst
Investigation finds TikTok violated COPPA consent order
An enforcement investigation found TikTok and ByteDance violated a 2019 consent order for infringing the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.
The civil consumer protection complaint filed Friday in federal court in California accuses TikTok of collecting a "wide variety" of personal information from children who created accounts on the app dating back to 2019 through the present day.
The Justice Department and TikTok on Friday settled a lawsuit for $400 million over claims the social media company violated children's privacy laws.
In August of 2024, the Justice Department, under the Biden administration, sued the social media company for allegedly violating the Children's Online Privacy Act of 1998. The Justice Department alleged TikTok had stored, collected and processed data from child users without the consent of their parents.
TikTok, feds settle children's privacy lawsuit for $400 million - ABC News
TikTok also violates federal law that governs children’s privacy known as the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) by collecting and maintaining children’s personal information.
For years, TikTok has represented their platform is not directed to children under 13 years of age and it does not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 years old.
TikTok has even targeted children under the age of 13 in violation of U.S. law.
In August of 2024 TikTok was sued by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission for violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and its implementing regulations (“COPPA”) by knowingly collecting and retaining personal information from children under the age of 13.
TikTok also reached a $400 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice in August, ending a 2024 lawsuit alleging the company violated federal children’s privacy laws.
TikTok settles Alabama mental health lawsuit just before trial begins | AP News
The lawsuit was filed during the Biden administration in August 2024, when the DOJ, together with the FTC, sued TikTok and ByteDance in California federal court, alleging that TikTok “knowingly permitted children to create regular TikTok accounts and to create, view and share short-form videos and messages with adults and others on the regular TikTok platform.” The DOJ alleged at the time that TikTok collected and retained a “wide variety of personal information from these children without notifying or obtaining consent from their parents.”
TikTok to Pay $400M to U.S. in DOJ Settlement Resolving COPPA LawsuitTikTok to Pay $400M to U.S. in DOJ Settlement Resolving COPPA Lawsuit
TikTok also reached a $400 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice in August, ending a 2024 lawsuit alleging the company violated federal children’s privacy laws.
TikTok settles lawsuit with Alabama for at least $100 million, will implement safety features – WTOP News
Since the lawsuit was filed, "TikTok has undergone significant changes to its ownership, management, compliance functions, and privacy practices," per the DOJ release.
The Justice Department and TikTok, along with parent company ByteDance, have reached a $400 million settlement to resolve allegations of violating children's online privacy laws, per an announcement first shared with Axios.
TikTok to pay $400m to US in one of largest child privacy settlements
TikTok has agreed to pay $400m (£293m) to the US to end a lawsuit alleging its platform violated children‘s privacy, marking one of the largest ever settlements over the issue.
TikTok also reached a $400 million settlement with the Justice Department in August, ending a 2024 lawsuit alleging the company violated federal children's privacy laws.
TikTok settles Alabama lawsuit over youth safety concerns for at least $100 million - CBS News
TikTok and its Chinese parent company agreed in August to settle allegations that the short-video app violated U.S. children's online privacy laws.
The $400 million settlement stems from a Justice Department lawsuit filed in 2024 accusing TikTok and ByteDance of failing to protect children's privacy and illegally collecting their personal information.
TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, reached a $400 million settlement with the US Justice Department over children’s privacy litigation on Friday, one of the largest amounts yet for a case of this kind.
The Justice Department first sued TikTok in 2024, claiming the app failed to stop children from joining the app and unlawfully collected their personal data.
Justice Department reaches $400 million settlement with TikTok over child privacy case | CNN Business
An investigation from the Division of Enforcement and the Division of Privacy and Identity Protection found TikTok/ByteDance violated a 2019 consent order for infringing the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.
PRESS RELEASE: FTC Investigation Leads to Lawsuit Against TikTok and ByteDance for Flagrantly Violating Children’s Privacy Law
On behalf of the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Justice sued video-sharing platform TikTok, its parent company ByteDance, as well as its affiliated companies, with flagrantly violating a children’s privacy law—the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act—and also alleged they infringed an existing FTC 2019 consent order against TikTok for violating COPPA.
FTC Investigation Leads to Lawsuit Against TikTok and ByteDance for Flagrantly Violating Children’s Privacy Law
FTC Investigation Leads to Lawsuit Against TikTok and ByteDance for Flagrantly Violating Children’s Privacy Law | Federal Trade Commission
ByteDance and its related companies allegedly were aware of the need to comply with the COPPA Rule and the 2019 consent order and knew about TikTok’s compliance failures that put children’s data and privacy at risk.
“TikTok knowingly and repeatedly violated kids’ privacy, threatening the safety of millions of children across the country,” said FTC Chair Lina M.
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20580 STATEMENT OF THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION In the Matter of Bytedance/Musical.ly June 18, 2024 The Federal Trade Commission has referred to the Department of Justice a complaint against TikTok, the successor to Musical.ly, and its parent company ByteDance Ltd. The FTC’s investigation of these companies began in connection with our order compliance review of Musical.ly following a 2019 settlement with the company for violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”).
It also defies an order that this Court entered in 2019 to resolve a lawsuit in which the United States alleged that TikTok Inc.’s and TikTok Ltd.’s predecessor companies similarly violated COPPA and the COPPA Rule by allowing children to create and access accounts without their parents’ knowledge or consent, collecting data from those children, and failing to comply with parents’ requests to delete their children’s accounts and information.
DOJ Reaches $400M Settlement With TikTok in Children's Privacy Claims
Department of Justice announced that it had reached a $400 million settlement with TikTok on Friday, resolving two-year claims that the short-form video app giant and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, breached federal children's privacy laws.
DOJ Reaches $400M Settlement With TikTok in Children's Privacy Claims | Law.com
TikTok has reached a $400 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, ending a 2024 lawsuit alleging the company violated federal children’s privacy laws.
The latest lawsuit focused on allegations that TikTok and its China-based parent company ByteDance violated a federal law that requires kid-oriented apps and websites to get parental consent before collecting personal information of children under 13. It also says the companies failed to honor requests from parents who wanted their children’s accounts deleted, and chose not to delete accounts even when the firms knew they belonged to kids under 13. The settlement comes as social media companies face an avalanche of lawsuits over children’s safety and privacy and a growing number of countries are banning young kids and teens from social media apps.
Under the settlement announced Friday, TikTok will pay $300 million.
TikTok Settles With U.S. Over Child Privacy Concerns for $400 Million - The New York Times
TikTok violated federal privacy law along with a 2019 agreement with the government in which the app promised to take steps to protect children’s privacy, according to the government. Under the settlement announced Friday, TikTok will pay $300 million.
24, 2026, Section B, Page 4 of the New York edition with the headline: TikTok to Pay $400 Million For Violating Child Privacy.
The Justice Department said Friday it has reached an agreement to dismiss claims that TikTok and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance violated children’s online privacy protections and a 2019 settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.
The justice department sued TikTok and ByteDance in 2024 for allegedly failing to protect children’s privacy and illegally collecting their information.
TikTok and its Chinese former parent company ByteDance on Friday agreed to a $400m settlement to resolve the US Department of Justice’s allegations that the short-form video app violated children’s online privacy.
TikTok agrees to $400m settlement to resolve US children’s privacy litigation | TikTok | The Guardian
TikTok’s calamitous emigration began on 22 January when its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, finalized a deal to sell the app to a group of US investors, among them the business software giant Oracle. The day after the deal closed, its new owners altered its privacy policy to permit more extensive data collection.
TikTok agrees to $400 million US children's privacy settlement
The Justice Department sued TikTok and ByteDance in 2024 for allegedly failing to protect children's privacy, and illegally collecting their information.
TikTok’s $400 million settlement from last month came after the Justice Department sued TikTok and ByteDance in 2024 for allegedly failing to protect children's privacy and illegally collecting their information.
Wu came weeks after TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance agreed to settle allegations that its app violated children’s online privacy laws. Under the settlement, TikTok would pay $300 million immediately and an additional $100 million upon entry of an order vacating a prior consent decree entered with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 2019 against TikTok’s predecessor, Musical.ly.
Under the settlement, TikTok would pay $300 million immediately and an additional $100 million upon entry of an order vacating a prior consent decree entered with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 2019 against TikTok’s predecessor, Musical.ly.
TikTok also reached a $400 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice in August, ending a 2024 lawsuit alleging the company violated federal children’s privacy laws.
TikTok Settles Lawsuit With Alabama for at Least $100 Million, Will Implement Safety Features
TikTok has reached a $400 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, ending a 2024 lawsuit alleging the company violated federal children's privacy laws.
The latest lawsuit focused on allegations that TikTok and its China-based parent company ByteDance violated a federal law that requires kid-oriented apps and websites to get parental consent before collecting personal information of children under 13. It also says the companies failed to honor requests from parents who wanted their children’s accounts deleted, and chose not to delete accounts even when the firms knew they belonged to kids under 13. The settlement comes as social media companies face an avalanche of lawsuits over children's safety and privacy and a growing number of countries are banning young kids and teens from social media apps.
TikTok Reaches $400 Million Settlement With US Justice Department Over Children's Privacy
WASHINGTON, Sept 19 (Reuters) - TikTok and ByteDance's proposed $400 million settlement with the US Justice Department hit a hurdle on Friday after a federal judge indicated he would reject part of the agreement.
The $400 million settlement stems from a Justice Department lawsuit filed in 2024 accusing TikTok and ByteDance of failing to protect children's privacy and illegally collecting their personal information.
The Justice Department and TikTok have reached a $400 million settlement to resolve allegations the popular video sharing app violated children's online privacy.
The US Justice Department and TikTok have agreed on a $400 million settlement to resolve allegations that the social media app violated children's online privacy.