TikTok has agreed to pay Alabama at least $100 million and impose time limits and other restrictions on teenage users, resolving the dispute without trial through a settlement modeled on Meta’s recent nationwide pact.
Alabama described the agreement as a “first-in-the-nation settlement” within the broader litigation over social media’s impact on teen wellbeing.
A trial had been set for Monday in the southern state after Alabama alleged that TikTok misled parents about tools designed to protect children from harmful content.
The settlement includes safety provisions similar to those Meta agreed to, such as a two-hour daily limit for teens, restricted access from midnight to 6 a.m., and paused notifications during school hours.
TikTok will also enhance age verification, prohibit beauty filters for teenagers, and provide young users with a non-personalized content feed.
Attorney General Steve Marshall called the deal “a great day for Alabama parents,” saying families can now “rest easier knowing real protections are in place to shield their children from the dangers of social media addiction.”
Under the agreement, TikTok will pay Alabama $100 million initially, with potential total payments reaching $300 million if 40 other attorneys general adopt comparable deals within a set timeframe.
Alabama’s lawsuit is part of a broader wave of state-level litigation targeting social media companies over alleged harm to young users.
In August, Meta agreed to an $18 billion settlement with US states accusing it of designing Instagram and Facebook to addict children.
The Alabama deal also contains a conditional restriction mirroring Meta’s agreement: extending the night-time shutdown window to 10 p.m.–7 a.m. if other platforms commit to the same.
A TikTok spokesperson told AFP that fostering a “safe and positive space” remains the company’s priority and that the settlement reinforces its commitment to strengthening safety tools for teens.
More than a dozen other states, including California and New York, continue to pursue lawsuits against TikTok.
The company has previously settled cases before trial, including a Los Angeles lawsuit brought by a young woman and a suit from a Kentucky school district.
Meta, by contrast, has chosen to fight in court—with costly outcomes.
In March, a New Mexico jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million for misleading the public about child safety on its platforms, and a Los Angeles jury awarded $6 million to a 20-year-old woman who said she became addicted to social media as a child.
Going to trial would have exposed TikTok to unprecedented scrutiny, with internal documents and executive testimony subject to public record.
Alabama originally sued TikTok and ByteDance in April 2025, alleging the app was engineered to hook young users “just like a sophisticated gambling machine.”
The state later narrowed its claims under Alabama’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act, focusing on whether TikTok misrepresented the effectiveness of “Restricted Mode” and “Kids Mode.”
The lawsuit further alleged that TikTok falsely claimed its app limits access to sexual and violent content to secure teen-safe ratings in app stores operated by Google, Apple, and Microsoft, and misled users about Chinese government access to US data.
TikTok maintained that teen safety was a key priority and argued that Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act shields platforms from liability for user-generated content.
With Agence France-Presse and Reuters
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