TikTok has agreed to pay the US state of Alabama at least $100 million and introduce stricter safety measures for teenage users, settling a lawsuit that accused the social media platform of misleading consumers about its child protection features.
The settlement, announced on Friday, September 25, 2026, came just days before a trial was scheduled to begin and requires TikTok and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to impose new usage limits and enhanced age-verification measures for teenagers in Alabama.
Under the agreement, Alabama will receive a minimum of $100 million, with the amount potentially rising to $300 million if 40 other states sign similar agreements with TikTok within a specified period.
The settlement requires TikTok to introduce a two-hour daily screen-time limit for teenagers, with parents able to impose additional restrictions. The platform will also introduce “productive pauses” after 15 minutes of continuous use and again at 60 and 90 minutes.
Teen users will face restricted access between midnight and 6 a.m., while messaging and push notifications will also be restricted overnight and during school hours.
Other measures include stronger age-verification systems, enhanced parental controls, restrictions on the discoverability of teen accounts by adults and notifications to parents about suspicious interactions between teenagers and adults.
TikTok will also prohibit cosmetic filters for teenage users and provide an option for a non-personalised content feed.
Alabama sued TikTok and ByteDance in April 2025, alleging that the platform was designed with features that encouraged addictive use among young users and that TikTok misled the public about the effectiveness of safety features such as Restricted Mode and Kids Mode.
The lawsuit further alleged that young users could still be exposed to content involving suicide, self-harm, eating disorders, alcohol and sexual material despite using the platform’s safety features.
TikTok has maintained that teen safety is a priority and said the settlement builds on its efforts to strengthen safety tools for young users.
The agreement comes amid growing legal pressure on social media companies in the United States over their impact on children and teenagers. At least 27 other states and Washington, D.C., have brought similar lawsuits against TikTok, while other major platforms including Meta, Snap and YouTube also face litigation over alleged harms to young users.
The Alabama settlement marks TikTok’s first settlement with a US state in the wider litigation over teen safety and social media use.
