California Judge Tentatively Blocks $100M TikTok Settlement

US District Judge George H. Wu in Los Angeles tentatively declined to lift a 2019 consent decree governing TikTok children's privacy practices, keeping court oversight in place through 2029. That clouds the $400 million Justice Department settlement announced in August: TikTok and ByteDance pay $300 million immediately, with another $100 million due only if the decree is vacated—roughly seventeen times Musical.ly's original $5.7 million FTC fine. The decree had required taking offline videos by users under 13 and destroying improperly collected data or obtaining parental consent. The government argued significant changes since its 2024 lawsuit made the order unnecessary, citing ByteDance's January agreement to form a majority American-owned joint venture plus date-of-birth entry and age-moderation systems described in a TikTok US joint-venture court filing. Wu said neither TikTok nor the government had shown a durable remedy or that termination was suitably tailored to the asserted change in circumstance. The decision is tentative. A hearing is set for September 21. If vacatur is finally refused, the government collects $300 million and the 2019 obligations continue. TikTok has admitted nothing; the Justice Department treats the resolved claims as allegations only.