TikTok Settles Alabama Teen Safety Lawsuit for at Least $100 Million

TikTok has agreed to pay Alabama at least $100 million and to change how its app works for young users, settling a state lawsuit over teen safety just before it was due to go to trial. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced the settlement on September 25, 2026. It is TikTok's first state settlement over teen safety claims, according to The Daily Record.

The money

According to Marshall's office, TikTok must pay Alabama at least $100 million within 45 days. The state could receive up to $300 million if certain conditions are met. The Daily Record reported that the larger amount depends on 40 additional state attorneys general adopting similar agreements within a set time period. The settlement is with TikTok and its parent company ByteDance.

New limits for young users

The settlement requires TikTok to add a series of safety features for children and teens in Alabama, according to the attorney general's office:

  • A two-hour daily time limit, with parental controls that let parents set lower limits.
  • "Productive pauses" that interrupt continuous use at 15, 60 and 90 minutes.
  • No access between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m., plus limits on messaging and push notifications overnight and during school hours.
  • Age verification measures and limits on how easily adults can find teen accounts.
  • A ban on cosmetic filters for teen users and a non-personalized feed by default for teens.

WAFF reported that the deal also includes parental notifications about suspicious interactions between teens and adults.

The lawsuit

Marshall filed the lawsuit last year, according to The Daily Record. The state's complaint alleged that TikTok designed its platform with addictive features, knowingly exposed young users to mental harm and misled the public about the platform's safety, according to the attorney general's office. Those claims were not tested in court.

The trial had been scheduled to begin the following Monday in Montgomery state court, and Alabama would have been the first state to take such claims against TikTok to trial.

"This is a great day for Alabama parents. Tonight, they can rest easier knowing real protections are in place to shield their children from the dangers of social media addiction," Marshall said in a statement.

A TikTok spokesperson for its US operations said: "This builds on our commitment and core objective to continually enhance our robust safety tools to protect teens," according to The Daily Record.

More cases ahead

The Daily Record reported that at least 27 other states and Washington, D.C., have filed similar cases against TikTok. The company also faces thousands of lawsuits from individuals, school districts and municipalities. The outlet noted that Meta previously settled with 47 states, D.C. and US territories for $17.1 billion, with $5 billion of that payout conditioned on TikTok, Snap and YouTube adopting similar terms.

Why it matters

As the first state settlement of its kind, the Alabama deal sets out specific limits, such as daily time caps and overnight shutoffs, that other states may push for in their own cases. The payment structure, which rises if dozens more states sign similar agreements, gives other attorneys general a clear model for resolving their lawsuits.

Sources

This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.