Brazil’s National Data Protection Authority (ANPD) has imposed a $29.7 million fine on TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, for illegally collecting data from approximately 8 million Brazilian children under 13, marking a landmark enforcement action in the country’s digital privacy landscape.
- TikTok collected data from about 20% of Brazilian children under 13
- Brazil’s ANPD fined TikTok $29.7 million and mandated operational changes
- The US DOJ concurrently settled a $400 million case over related violations
What happened
Brazil’s ANPD finalized a significant enforcement action against TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, resulting in a $29.7 million fine for improperly collecting data from children under the age of 13. The investigation began in 2021, prior to Brazil’s ECA Digital law coming into effect in 2026, but revealed ongoing noncompliance issues that led to this unprecedented sanction.
The probe found TikTok had not effectively barred children from accessing the platform despite its stated age restrictions, and had amassed data on about 8 million young users, equating to roughly 20% of Brazil’s child population. The collected data was reportedly used to deliver targeted advertising, which is prohibited under Brazilian law, prompting the ANPD to impose three separate fines totaling approximately 153 million Brazilian reals.
Why it matters
This action marks the first major penalty against a large tech platform in Brazil for violations involving children’s data. It sets a strong precedent for enforcing digital privacy laws, particularly Brazil’s new child protection framework, and highlights how emerging regulatory regimes are holding global social media companies accountable.
The timing of this decision coincides with a parallel US Department of Justice settlement in which TikTok agreed to pay $400 million over child privacy violations, reinforcing the international regulatory pressure on the company. These developments signal that platforms must significantly improve their compliance practices or face costly and reputational consequences worldwide.
What to watch next
ByteDance has 10 days to appeal the ANPD’s ruling, but the imposed fines and mandated service design changes illustrate the shift towards stricter oversight of online children’s safety. Observers should monitor how TikTok and other platforms adapt to evolving digital protection laws in Brazil and beyond.
Additionally, the broader implications include potential ripple effects influencing policy and enforcement in other jurisdictions. Regulators globally may look to Brazil’s strong stance as a benchmark, potentially driving coordinated efforts to safeguard minors’ data and curtail unauthorized data harvesting by major social media companies.