Which U.S. agency fined ByteDance US$5.7 million over children's privacy in February 2019?

The Federal Trade Commission fined Musical.ly, then owned by ByteDance and integrated into TikTok, US$5.7 million over children’s privacy in February 2019.

The case concerned the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA. The FTC alleged that Musical.ly collected personal information from children under 13 without obtaining the required parental consent. Registration could involve details such as an email address, phone number, name, username, profile image, and biography.

The settlement was announced on February 27, 2019, and the $5.7 million civil penalty was described by the FTC as its largest COPPA penalty at the time. The company also had to change its privacy practices and address accounts belonging to younger children.

The wording is sometimes simplified as “ByteDance was fined,” but the FTC action formally targeted Musical.ly and Musical.ly, Inc. ByteDance had acquired Musical.ly in 2017 and merged it into TikTok in 2018. The other listed agencies do not administer COPPA enforcement in this case.