Google has agreed to pay between $150 and $200 million to resolve an FTC investigation into YouTube over alleged violations of a children’s privacy law, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The FTC voted 3-2 along party lines to approve the settlement, sending it over to the Justice Department as part of the review process, the person confirmed. Details about other terms of the settlement were not immediately available.
The settlement is the latest move from the FTC meant to crack down on Silicon Valley privacy violations. Facebook last month paid $5 billion to resolve an expansive agency probe into its data practices.
The industry has more broadly seen its fortunes sour in Washington, as President Donald Trump and associates, Democratic presidential candidates and lawmakers of both parties have all pilloried tech for its perceived failures to stem hate speech, extremism, privacy flaps, alleged bias and a wealth of other ills. Many of those same critics dinged the FTC over the Facebook penalties, calling into question both the impact of the $5 billion sum on the moneyed social media giant and the efficacy of the settlement terms.
