Washington
TikTok reaches $400 million settlement with U.S. Justice Department over children’s privacy
TikTok has reached a $400 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, ending a 2024 lawsuit alleging the company violated federal children’s privacy laws.
The DOJ said Friday that TikTok will pay $300 million immediately and another $100 million after an order vacates an earlier consent decree against its predecessor company, Musically.
“This settlement is a major victory for American children and parents,” said U.S. Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. in a statement. “The Department’s priority is ensuring that children are protected online and that companies entrusted with their personal information meet their legal obligations. This resolution secures a substantial recovery while reinforcing the protections that families expect and deserve.”
Since the DOJ’s lawsuit in 2024, TikTok has undergone major changes, most notably in the ownership structure of its U.S. arm. In January, the social video platform company signed agreements with major investors including Oracle, Silver Lake and the Emirati investment firm MGX to form the new TikTok U.S. joint venture.
Representatives for TikTok did not immediately respond to a message for comment Friday.
The latest lawsuit focused on allegations that TikTok and its China-based parent company ByteDance violated a federal law that requires kid-oriented apps and websites to get parental consent before collecting personal information of children under 13. It also says the companies failed to honor requests from parents who wanted their children’s accounts deleted, and chose not to delete accounts even when the firms knew they belonged to kids under 13.
The settlement comes as social media companies face an avalanche of lawsuits over children’s safety and privacy and a growing number of countries are banning young kids and teens from social media apps.
Instagram’s parent company, Meta Platforms, is currently on trial in federal court in Oakland, California, over allegations it violated the 1998 Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, along with various state statutes.
Ohio
49ers owner pleads no contest to misdemeanor charges and fined
San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York was arrested over the weekend in Ohio and pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and possessing criminal tools.
York was arrested Sunday in East Palestine, Ohio, and was released after posting a $5,000 bond. He was sentenced to one day in jail for both offenses to be served concurrently and was credited with one day served when he pleaded no contest Monday morning. He also was fined $1,150.
Court records show that York initially was charged with engaging in prostitution, but prosecutors amended that to disorderly conduct. Records also show that York had a cellphone returned to him and that $160 that was seized was to be given to the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force as part of the plea agreement. York also completed on online course.
The 49ers and the NFL didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
The 46-year-old York took over day-to-day control of the 49ers from his parents in 2008. He became the team’s principal owner in 2024. After some initial struggles under York’s leadership, the team has been a consistent contender since hiring coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch in 2017.
The Niners have made the Super Bowl three times under York’s leadership, losing in the 2012 season under coach Jim Harbaugh and the 2019 and ‘23 seasons under Shanahan and Lynch.
York also oversaw the building of Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. The team moved from San Francisco to the new stadium in 2014. The stadium has hosted two Super Bowls, a World Cup and a College Football Playoff title game.
Washington
Trump urges court to reject BBC’s bid to secure records from his family in defamation case
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has urged a federal judge to reject the BBC’s request for the court’s help in securing testimony and documents from three family members in response to his $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the British broadcaster.
The BBC is trying to gain “politically-driven leverage” over Trump by serving subpoenas on daughter Ivanka Trump, son-in-law Jared Kushner and son Donald Trump Jr., personal lawyers for the Republican president argued in a court filing Friday.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Kuntz in Miami did not immediately rule on the dispute.
Kuntz, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, inherited the president’s lawsuit from another judge less than a week ago. Court filings did not immediately specify a reason for the case’s reassignment. The previous judge has set a February trial date.
In May, a process server working for the BBC tried to serve subpoenas on Ivanka Trump and Kushner at their residence but encountered Secret Service agents who said they were not authorized to accept it, according to the president’s lawyers. They said the process server also visited Trump Tower in New York several days later in a failed attempt to serve Donald Trump Jr.
In a court filing last week, the broadcaster asked for the court’s permission to serve subpoenas on Trump’s family members by certified mail instead of in person.
Trump’s lawsuit, filed in December, accuses the BBC of deceptively editing portions of the speech that he delivered near the White House on Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of his supporters attacked the Capitol to stop Congress from certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s victory over Trump. The suit claims the BBC spliced together separate parts of Trump’s speech to intentionally misrepresent what he said.
The lawsuit alleges the BBC aired its documentary a week before the 2024 presidential election in “a brazen attempt to interfere in and influence” the outcome to Trump’s detriment.
“The relief that the BBC’s Motion seeks cannot be segregated from the politically charged discovery campaign that it is based on, and which has already been ruled as improperly overbroad by this Court,” Trump’s lawyers wrote.
The BBC has apologized to Trump for the misleading edit, but it denies defaming him.
United Kingdom
Former world snooker champion Graeme Dott convicted of sexually abusing 2 small children
LONDON (AP) — Former world snooker champion Graeme Dott was convicted Monday of sexually abusing two primary school children in Scotland in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Dott, 49, was found guilty of abusing a girl from 1993-96 and a boy from 2006-10 after a five-day trial at the High Court in Glasgow. The judge ordered that Dott be held in custody ahead of his sentencing on Sept. 29.
The woman, now in her 40s, testified that Dott sexually abused her on multiple occasions, “caressing” her bottom over her clothing, exposing himself and touching her with parts of his body including his penis.
The man, now in his late 20s, said he was abused on multiple occasions, with Dott touching him inappropriately, kissing him and performing sexual acts.
Snooker’s governing body suspended Dott in April 2025 after he was charged in the case. He was ranked No. 56 in the world at the time.
Dott won the world snooker championship in 2006.
Illinois
Sean Grayson, former deputy convicted of killing woman, dies in prison, lawyer says
CHICAGO (AP) — Sean Grayson, a former Illinois sheriff’s deputy whose fatal shooting of Sonya Massey inside her home became a flashpoint over police use of force, died Sunday while serving a 20-year prison sentence.
Grayson’s attorney, Daniel Fultz, confirmed that his client died earlier Sunday but declined to provide any further details.
Grayson, 32, was convicted of second-degree murder in October in the fatal shooting of Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman who had reported a possible prowler outside her Springfield-area home. Body camera video of the July 2024 encounter showed Massey crouching in her kitchen and apologizing moments before Grayson shot her in the face.
He was sentenced in January to the maximum 20 years in prison.
Grayson had been diagnosed with colon cancer before Massey’s killing, and his attorneys said at his sentencing that the disease had spread to his liver and lungs. In May, only months into his sentence, he sought medical release under an Illinois law for prisoners with terminal illnesses or serious medical conditions. The Illinois Prisoner Review Board denied his request last month.
Massey called 911 early on July 6, 2024, to report someone prowling outside her home. Grayson and another Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy responded.
Video showed Grayson directing Massey to remove a pot of hot water from the stove. As she held the pot, Massey told the deputies, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”
Grayson threatened to shoot her, drew his handgun and ordered her to drop the pot. Massey apologized and ducked behind a kitchen counter before Grayson fired three times.
The other deputy, Dawson Farley, later testified that he did not consider Massey a threat and drew his own weapon only after Grayson did.
Grayson was fired after the shooting and charged with first-degree murder. Jurors convicted him of the lesser charge of second-degree murder after Grayson argued that he feared Massey would throw the hot water at him.
Massey’s killing drew national attention and protests and raised questions about how Grayson had moved through several law enforcement agencies before being hired by the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office.
Illinois lawmakers later passed the Sonya Massey Act, requiring law enforcement agencies to more closely review an applicant’s previous employment records before hiring an officer.
The Justice Department also opened a civil rights investigation after Massey’s death and later reached an agreement with Sangamon County, its sheriff’s office and other agencies requiring changes to policing and emergency response. Those changes included additional training for interactions with people with behavioral health disabilities and development of a mobile crisis response program.
TikTok reaches $400 million settlement with U.S. Justice Department over children’s privacy
TikTok has reached a $400 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, ending a 2024 lawsuit alleging the company violated federal children’s privacy laws.
The DOJ said Friday that TikTok will pay $300 million immediately and another $100 million after an order vacates an earlier consent decree against its predecessor company, Musically.
“This settlement is a major victory for American children and parents,” said U.S. Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. in a statement. “The Department’s priority is ensuring that children are protected online and that companies entrusted with their personal information meet their legal obligations. This resolution secures a substantial recovery while reinforcing the protections that families expect and deserve.”
Since the DOJ’s lawsuit in 2024, TikTok has undergone major changes, most notably in the ownership structure of its U.S. arm. In January, the social video platform company signed agreements with major investors including Oracle, Silver Lake and the Emirati investment firm MGX to form the new TikTok U.S. joint venture.
Representatives for TikTok did not immediately respond to a message for comment Friday.
The latest lawsuit focused on allegations that TikTok and its China-based parent company ByteDance violated a federal law that requires kid-oriented apps and websites to get parental consent before collecting personal information of children under 13. It also says the companies failed to honor requests from parents who wanted their children’s accounts deleted, and chose not to delete accounts even when the firms knew they belonged to kids under 13.
The settlement comes as social media companies face an avalanche of lawsuits over children’s safety and privacy and a growing number of countries are banning young kids and teens from social media apps.
Instagram’s parent company, Meta Platforms, is currently on trial in federal court in Oakland, California, over allegations it violated the 1998 Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, along with various state statutes.
Ohio
49ers owner pleads no contest to misdemeanor charges and fined
San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York was arrested over the weekend in Ohio and pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and possessing criminal tools.
York was arrested Sunday in East Palestine, Ohio, and was released after posting a $5,000 bond. He was sentenced to one day in jail for both offenses to be served concurrently and was credited with one day served when he pleaded no contest Monday morning. He also was fined $1,150.
Court records show that York initially was charged with engaging in prostitution, but prosecutors amended that to disorderly conduct. Records also show that York had a cellphone returned to him and that $160 that was seized was to be given to the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force as part of the plea agreement. York also completed on online course.
The 49ers and the NFL didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
The 46-year-old York took over day-to-day control of the 49ers from his parents in 2008. He became the team’s principal owner in 2024. After some initial struggles under York’s leadership, the team has been a consistent contender since hiring coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch in 2017.
The Niners have made the Super Bowl three times under York’s leadership, losing in the 2012 season under coach Jim Harbaugh and the 2019 and ‘23 seasons under Shanahan and Lynch.
York also oversaw the building of Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. The team moved from San Francisco to the new stadium in 2014. The stadium has hosted two Super Bowls, a World Cup and a College Football Playoff title game.
Washington
Trump urges court to reject BBC’s bid to secure records from his family in defamation case
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has urged a federal judge to reject the BBC’s request for the court’s help in securing testimony and documents from three family members in response to his $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the British broadcaster.
The BBC is trying to gain “politically-driven leverage” over Trump by serving subpoenas on daughter Ivanka Trump, son-in-law Jared Kushner and son Donald Trump Jr., personal lawyers for the Republican president argued in a court filing Friday.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Kuntz in Miami did not immediately rule on the dispute.
Kuntz, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, inherited the president’s lawsuit from another judge less than a week ago. Court filings did not immediately specify a reason for the case’s reassignment. The previous judge has set a February trial date.
In May, a process server working for the BBC tried to serve subpoenas on Ivanka Trump and Kushner at their residence but encountered Secret Service agents who said they were not authorized to accept it, according to the president’s lawyers. They said the process server also visited Trump Tower in New York several days later in a failed attempt to serve Donald Trump Jr.
In a court filing last week, the broadcaster asked for the court’s permission to serve subpoenas on Trump’s family members by certified mail instead of in person.
Trump’s lawsuit, filed in December, accuses the BBC of deceptively editing portions of the speech that he delivered near the White House on Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of his supporters attacked the Capitol to stop Congress from certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s victory over Trump. The suit claims the BBC spliced together separate parts of Trump’s speech to intentionally misrepresent what he said.
The lawsuit alleges the BBC aired its documentary a week before the 2024 presidential election in “a brazen attempt to interfere in and influence” the outcome to Trump’s detriment.
“The relief that the BBC’s Motion seeks cannot be segregated from the politically charged discovery campaign that it is based on, and which has already been ruled as improperly overbroad by this Court,” Trump’s lawyers wrote.
The BBC has apologized to Trump for the misleading edit, but it denies defaming him.
United Kingdom
Former world snooker champion Graeme Dott convicted of sexually abusing 2 small children
LONDON (AP) — Former world snooker champion Graeme Dott was convicted Monday of sexually abusing two primary school children in Scotland in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Dott, 49, was found guilty of abusing a girl from 1993-96 and a boy from 2006-10 after a five-day trial at the High Court in Glasgow. The judge ordered that Dott be held in custody ahead of his sentencing on Sept. 29.
The woman, now in her 40s, testified that Dott sexually abused her on multiple occasions, “caressing” her bottom over her clothing, exposing himself and touching her with parts of his body including his penis.
The man, now in his late 20s, said he was abused on multiple occasions, with Dott touching him inappropriately, kissing him and performing sexual acts.
Snooker’s governing body suspended Dott in April 2025 after he was charged in the case. He was ranked No. 56 in the world at the time.
Dott won the world snooker championship in 2006.
Illinois
Sean Grayson, former deputy convicted of killing woman, dies in prison, lawyer says
CHICAGO (AP) — Sean Grayson, a former Illinois sheriff’s deputy whose fatal shooting of Sonya Massey inside her home became a flashpoint over police use of force, died Sunday while serving a 20-year prison sentence.
Grayson’s attorney, Daniel Fultz, confirmed that his client died earlier Sunday but declined to provide any further details.
Grayson, 32, was convicted of second-degree murder in October in the fatal shooting of Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman who had reported a possible prowler outside her Springfield-area home. Body camera video of the July 2024 encounter showed Massey crouching in her kitchen and apologizing moments before Grayson shot her in the face.
He was sentenced in January to the maximum 20 years in prison.
Grayson had been diagnosed with colon cancer before Massey’s killing, and his attorneys said at his sentencing that the disease had spread to his liver and lungs. In May, only months into his sentence, he sought medical release under an Illinois law for prisoners with terminal illnesses or serious medical conditions. The Illinois Prisoner Review Board denied his request last month.
Massey called 911 early on July 6, 2024, to report someone prowling outside her home. Grayson and another Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy responded.
Video showed Grayson directing Massey to remove a pot of hot water from the stove. As she held the pot, Massey told the deputies, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”
Grayson threatened to shoot her, drew his handgun and ordered her to drop the pot. Massey apologized and ducked behind a kitchen counter before Grayson fired three times.
The other deputy, Dawson Farley, later testified that he did not consider Massey a threat and drew his own weapon only after Grayson did.
Grayson was fired after the shooting and charged with first-degree murder. Jurors convicted him of the lesser charge of second-degree murder after Grayson argued that he feared Massey would throw the hot water at him.
Massey’s killing drew national attention and protests and raised questions about how Grayson had moved through several law enforcement agencies before being hired by the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office.
Illinois lawmakers later passed the Sonya Massey Act, requiring law enforcement agencies to more closely review an applicant’s previous employment records before hiring an officer.
The Justice Department also opened a civil rights investigation after Massey’s death and later reached an agreement with Sangamon County, its sheriff’s office and other agencies requiring changes to policing and emergency response. Those changes included additional training for interactions with people with behavioral health disabilities and development of a mobile crisis response program.
