TikTok has agreed to pay Alabama at least $100 million in a settlement tied to the state’s allegations that the formerly Chinese company made its social media platform addictive to young users and misled users about safety.
“Under the settlement, Alabama will receive a minimum of $100 million, due to the state within 45 days, with the potential to receive up to $300 million if certain conditions are met,” the Alabama attorney general’s office announced in a Friday Statement.
In its lawsuit, Alabama claimed that TikTok designed its platform with features meant to be addictive for young people, knowingly exposed young users to mental harms, contributed to a teen mental health crisis, and intentionally misled the public about the safety of its platforms.
Notably, Alabama would have been the first state to bring its claims against TikTok to trial — which was set to begin on Monday in Montgomery state court.
TikTok also agreed to implement “a host of safety features designed to protect children using its platform,” the attorney general’s office added, citing, a two-hour daily time limit for underage users and parental controls to allow parents to further limit the amount of time.
The Chinese company also agreed to establish “a blanket prohibition on the use of cosmetic filters,” apply restrictions on children’s overnight usage, and implement “productive pauses” that interrupt young users after 15 minutes of continuous use on TikTok, and again at 60 and 90 minutes to limit endless scrolling.
“This is a great day for Alabama parents,” Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said. “Tonight, they can rest easier knowing real protections are in place to shield their children from the dangers of social media addiction.”
“TikTok has agreed to give parents real control over what their kids see and how much time they spend on the app,” Marshall added. “We’ve said from day one that our number one goal was to stand up for Alabamians when they are being harmed, and today, we did exactly that.”
Alana Mastrangelo-Wrask is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.