TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance have agreed to pay Alabama at least $100 million to settle allegations that the social media platform was designed to keep children engaged and misled consumers about its safety.
The settlement, announced Sept. 25, came days before Alabama was scheduled to become the first U.S. state to take TikTok to trial over claims involving the platform’s impact on teenagers.
Under the agreement, Alabama will receive a minimum of $100 million within 45 days. The amount could rise to as much as $300 million if qualifying settlements are reached with other states within a specified period,
According to the Alabama Attorney General’s Office and Reuters, the agreement also requires TikTok to introduce a series of additional protections for children and teenagers using the platform in Alabama.
The measures include a two-hour daily time limit for teens, with parents able to impose stricter limits. TikTok will also introduce interruptions after 15 minutes of continuous use and again at 60 and 90 minutes.
READ: TikTok to face first trial in state lawsuit over teen mental health (September 25, 2026)
Teen users will face restrictions on access between midnight and 6 a.m., while messaging and push notifications will also be limited overnight and during school hours. The settlement requires stronger age-assurance measures to verify users’ ages.
TikTok will also prohibit cosmetic filters for teen users and provide a default non-personalized feed. The company must strengthen parental controls and introduce measures intended to limit the discoverability of teen accounts by adults.
The settlement resolves Alabama’s claims that TikTok used addictive features, exposed young users to serious mental-health harms and misled consumers about the safety of its platform. Those are allegations made by the state and were not established through a trial.
First state settlement in broader TikTok litigation
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall filed the lawsuit against TikTok and ByteDance in April 2025, accusing the company of exploiting children, promoting harmful content and making deceptive claims about youth safety. The case was scheduled to go to trial in Montgomery state court on September 28. The trial would have been the first state case against TikTok in the broader litigation over social media and teen well-being to reach a jury.
Reuters reported that at least 27 other states and Washington, D.C., have filed similar lawsuits against TikTok. Alabama had alleged that TikTok’s endless stream of videos and recommendation system made the platform particularly difficult for young users to stop using. The state also alleged that the algorithm could steer young users toward increasingly intense material involving violence and self-harm.
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The settlement means the planned trial will not take place.A TikTok spokesperson said the agreement builds on the company’s commitment to strengthening safety tools for teenagers.
Settlement follows similar action involving Meta
The Alabama agreement comes shortly after the state reached a separate settlement with Meta Platforms over allegations involving Instagram and Facebook and their effects on young users.
In August, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced a $117.1 million settlement with Meta as part of a broader agreement involving claims brought by multiple states and U.S. territories. The agreement also required Meta to introduce additional safety measures for children and teenagers.
The TikTok settlement therefore adds to growing legal pressure on major social media companies over how their platforms are designed and the potential effects on younger users. For TikTok, the Alabama agreement also establishes the first settlement with a state in the nationwide litigation over alleged harms to teenagers, according to Reuters.