TikTok Will Pay Alabama at Least $100 Million and Cap Teens at Two Hours a Day
The settlement came days before Alabama was set to become the first state to put TikTok's youth-harm claims in front of a jury, and it could grow to $300 million.
TikTok has agreed to pay Alabama at least $100 million and overhaul how the app works for teenagers in the state, settling a youth-safety lawsuit just before it was due to go to trial. Jury selection had been scheduled to begin Monday, which would have made Alabama the first state to argue its case against TikTok before a jury.
Alabama sued in 2025, arguing that TikTok's "addictive properties," chiefly the algorithm that serves up a feed tuned to each user's interests, harmed children's mental health and that the company knew it. The state attorney general's office said Alabama will receive a minimum of $100 million in restitution and remediation, with "potential to receive up to $300 million if certain conditions are met." If enough other states reach qualifying settlements with TikTok within a set period, Alabama could collect up to an additional $183.8 million.
The platform changes are sweeping. Teens in Alabama will be able to choose a feed that is not personalized. TikTok will cap them at two hours of use a day and block use between midnight and 6 a.m. Young users will get a prompt to take a "productive pause" after 15 minutes of continuous scrolling, and again at 60 and 90 minutes. Cosmetic-surgery filters will be barred for teens, teen accounts will be private by default, and the company must add stronger age verification, easier parental controls and tougher content moderation.
"This is a great day for Alabama parents," Attorney General Steve Marshall said. "Tonight, they can rest easier knowing real protections are in place to shield their children from the dangers of social media addiction." Katherine Robertson, chief counsel in his office and the Republican nominee to succeed him, told The Associated Press the changes resemble those Meta agreed to this summer when it settled similar claims brought by nearly every state. "There's been a war on childhood coming from a million different directions," she said. "They're manipulating kids to get addicted to their product, essentially."
A spokesperson for the TikTok USDS Joint Venture, the group of U.S. investors that now runs the platform domestically, said the company's priority has "always been fostering a safe and positive space" and that the deal builds on its commitment "to continually enhance our robust safety tools to protect teens."
The settlement is the latest in a string of costly legal retreats for social media companies over their effect on young users. Meta had publicly urged TikTok and YouTube to adopt the same standards it accepted, and TikTok had not responded until now. TikTok previously settled individual claims before the landmark Los Angeles addiction trial earlier this year, in which a jury found that YouTube and Meta designed their platforms to hook young users without regard for their well-being. In August, TikTok also paid $400 million to settle a 2024 Justice Department lawsuit alleging it violated federal children's privacy law.
