TikTok Agrees to Pay $100m and Limit Children’s Usage in Alabama Settlement

TikTok and its parent company ByteDance have agreed to pay the US state of Alabama $100m and implement a series of restrictions on children’s usage of the platform, settling a lawsuit just before a jury trial was due to begin.

The deal ends allegations that TikTok is intentionally designed to addict children. New safety features include a two-hour daily usage limit for children, as well as overnight and school-hour restrictions. The changes apply only in Alabama, marking TikTok’s first settlement with a US state.

“This is very restrictive injunctive relief that’s going to require them to change a lot of the policies that we had identified as the culprits in what we call the war on childhood,” said Katherine Robertson, chief counsel in the Alabama Attorney General’s office.

The $100m payment is due within 45 days. TikTok has agreed to pay up to $300m if conditions are not met. Additional measures include age verification, parental controls, restrictions on certain content, limits on discovery of children’s accounts by adults, and a blanket ban on cosmetic filters for children.

The settlement follows a framework from an August deal between Meta and 52 state Attorneys General. Usage restrictions take effect immediately; TikTok has up to one year to implement other changes.