TikTok has agreed to introduce stricter limits for teenage users in Alabama as part of a settlement resolving allegations that the platform used addictive design features and failed to adequately protect children.
The agreement was reached shortly before a trial was scheduled to begin. Alabama had accused TikTok and parent company ByteDance of designing features that encouraged excessive use among young people while misleading consumers about the platform’s safety. TikTok did not admit wrongdoing under the settlement.
Alabama will receive at least $100 million, with the payment due within 45 days. Additional money could become available if other state attorneys general reach qualifying agreements with TikTok, potentially bringing Alabama’s total recovery significantly higher.
The settlement also changes how teenagers in the state can use the platform. TikTok must introduce a default daily usage limit of two hours for teen accounts, although certain activities are excluded from the calculation.
Long sessions will also be interrupted. Teenagers will receive a “productive pause” after 15 minutes of continuous use, with additional interruptions after longer periods on the platform.
Nighttime access will become more restricted between midnight and 6 a.m. Parents supervising an account will have additional controls over these settings, while TikTok must make its parental tools easier to find and use.
Age verification is another major part of the agreement. TikTok will be required to strengthen its systems for identifying younger users, an important requirement because many of the new protections depend on the platform accurately determining whether an account belongs to a teenager.
The agreement also targets features that Alabama argued could negatively affect younger users. Cosmetic procedure filters will be unavailable to teens, while teen accounts will be private by default.
TikTok must additionally give teenagers an accessible option to use a feed that is not primarily personalized using their individual activity. New teen users identified by the platform will be prompted to choose between feed options rather than automatically being switched to a chronological or non-personalized feed.
Content safeguards are also expected to become stronger, including protections involving material related to suicide, self-harm, and eating disorders.
The settlement resolves Alabama’s claims without a jury deciding whether TikTok’s design caused the harms alleged by the state. TikTok said the agreement builds on its existing efforts to improve safety tools for younger users.
Many of the changes will not appear immediately. The agreement provides implementation periods for different protections, meaning Alabama teenagers and their parents should not assume every new restriction became active as soon as the settlement was announced.