# Trump Administration to Appeal Judge’s Rejection of TikTok Settlement

> The Trump administration plans to appeal Judge George Wu’s refusal to approve a proposed TikTok settlement over federal child privacy rules under COPPA.

- Canonical URL: https://coreiten.com/en/article/tiktok-settlement-appeal-us-pushes-to-vacate-2019-order
- Language: en
- Section: TikTok
- Author: Sami
- Published: 2026-10-24T06:02:35+03:00
- Modified: 2026-10-24T06:02:35+03:00
- Publisher: CoreITen (https://coreiten.com)
- Keywords: TikTok, Musical.ly, ByteDance, Oracle, COPPA, Federal Trade Commission

## Summary

The Trump administration is appealing a federal judge's rejection of a proposed TikTok settlement concerning children's data collection violations.

- U.S. District Court Judge George Wu declined the settlement in September 2026, ruling the government failed to justify throwing out a 2019 FTC order.
- The 2019 FTC order originally required a $5 million payment and ongoing compliance due to Musical.ly's COPPA violations.
- The Justice Department argued the 2019 conditions were unnecessary because ByteDance sold TikTok's U.S. operations to an investor joint venture including Oracle.
- The rejected agreement aimed to resolve an August 2024 complaint alleging children aged 12 and younger bypassed the app's Kids Mode setting.

**Why it matters:** This appeal highlights ongoing regulatory battles over corporate accountability and FTC consent orders following changes in TikTok's U.S. ownership structure.

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The Trump administration plans to appeal a federal judge’s refusal to approve a proposed TikTok settlement over allegations that the app collected personal data from children under 13 in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), according to Wendy Davis at MediaPost. The rejected agreement would have vacated a 2019 settlement between the platform and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) stemming from claims that its predecessor, Musical.ly, broke the same federal law.

In September 2026, U.S. District Court Judge George Wu in the Central District of California declined to sign off on the new deal, ruling that the government had not shown why the 2019 order should be thrown out. That earlier FTC order mandated a $5 million payment from TikTok alongside ongoing compliance requirements.

Although Judge Wu gave the Justice Department the option to revise and resubmit its request for approval, the administration stated in court papers filed on October 22 that it would appeal the decision instead. “After meeting and conferring, the United States declines to renew its consent motion and rests on the current record before this Court, because there is nothing further for this Court to consider,” the Justice Department wrote.

### Ownership Changes and the 2019 Order

In its push to scrap the 2019 agreement, the Justice Department argued that the earlier conditions were “no longer necessary to serve the public interest.” The government added that the 2019 settlement arose from the practices of Musical.ly rather than “the TikTok platform as it exists and operates today.”

Earlier in 2026, Chinese parent company ByteDance [sold](https://newsroom.tiktok.com/announcement-from-the-new-tiktok-usds-joint-venture-llc?lang=en) TikTok’s U.S. operations to an investor joint venture that includes Oracle, which is led by President Donald Trump’s ally Larry Ellison. However, Judge Wu found that the new ownership structure did not justify setting aside the 2019 order.

> While there have been significant legal developments concerning TikTok in the years since the Consent Order was issued, nothing has changed regarding defendants’ legal obligations under COPPA. There is nothing inherent in the ownership change that renders the aims of the Consent Order accomplished or its enforcement no longer necessary.
>
> George Wu, U.S. District Court Judge, Central District of California

### The August 2024 Kids Mode Complaint

The proposed settlement that Judge Wu turned down was designed to resolve an August 2024 complaint filed while the app was still under ByteDance’s ownership. That complaint alleged that the platform let children aged 12 and younger bypass a **Kids Mode** setting meant to limit data collection.

When moving to settle the case, the Justice Department stated that those claims remained “allegations only” and noted that no determination of liability had been made.

## Sources

- [mediapost.com](https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/418961/trump-admin-presses-bid-to-vacate-2019-tiktok-sett.html)

## Related topics

- [ByteDance](https://coreiten.com/en/topic/bytedance)