TikTok to pay $400M in landmark child privacy settlement

When lawsuits result in settlements, it means only one thing: - The accused company knows that if the trial continues, it will pay much more in fines - The prosecution knows that if the trial continues, it will pay much more in legal fees - The settlement is reached because it is in both parties’ best interest

In any case, justice is not served this way; it is merely a financial agreement between disputing parties and does not resolve the structural problems that led to the lawsuit. The best solution—beyond fines—is to make significant changes to the design that caused such damage.

400 million represents about 6 days of gross here or about 7% of net profits at TikTok. For ByteDance this "fine" represents less than a single day.

These fines and those on Facebook in the EU while astronomical in the traditional sense, are essentially the cost of doing business for social media.

Will Larry even notice?