TikTok settles Alabama youth safety lawsuit for at least $100 million, will limit teen usage

TikTok agreed Friday to pay the state of Alabama at least $100 million and to roll out a package of teen-safety features across the platform, settling a youth mental health lawsuit just days before it was set to go before a jury — the first such trial any state had brought against the company.

Alabama sued TikTok in 2025, alleging the platform's recommendation algorithm and "addictive properties" were designed in ways the company knew caused harm to children's mental health. The trial was scheduled to begin Monday, September 29; the settlement avoids what would have been the first state-level jury verdict on those claims.

What TikTok is required to change

The settlement requires TikTok to build a specific set of safety features into teen accounts: a two-hour daily usage cap, a blackout period blocking access from midnight to 6 a.m., and prompted "productive pause" breaks after 15, 60, and 90 minutes of continuous use. Teen accounts must default to private, cosmetic-procedure filters are banned for minors, and users get the option to switch to a non-personalized content feed instead of the algorithmic "For You" recommendation engine. TikTok also must strengthen age verification, parental controls, and content moderation.

The money could climb well past $100 million

The $100 million is a floor, not a ceiling. Alabama could collect up to $300 million depending on how the settlement's conditions play out, and an additional $183.8 million is potentially available if other states reach comparable settlements with TikTok within a set timeframe — meaning this single state case could set the template, and the price tag, for a wave of similar suits elsewhere.

"Tonight, they can rest easier knowing real protections are in place to shield their children from the dangers of social media addiction," Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a statement announcing the deal. A joint venture representing TikTok's U.S. operations said the platform's priority has "always been fostering a safe and positive space" and committed to "continually enhance our robust safety tools."

Part of a broader reckoning for social platforms

The settlement lands months after Meta agreed to pay $18 billion to resolve a sweeping multistate lawsuit accusing it of designing Instagram and Facebook to be addictive to children — among the largest platform-liability settlements to date. Together, the two cases mark a shift from years of largely unsuccessful attempts to regulate social media's effect on teens toward states extracting binding product changes, not just fines, through litigation.

For TikTok specifically, the Alabama deal arrives as the company navigates a separate, unrelated set of U.S. political pressures over its ownership structure. The mental-health settlement is a distinct legal track, but it adds to a year in which TikTok has faced sustained scrutiny on multiple fronts simultaneously.