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TikTok's Alabama settlement caps underage users at two hours a day
TikTok will pay Alabama at least $100 million and limit underage users to two hours a day in its first state settlement over teen social media addiction. It could owe up to $300 million if the features don't ship, and the list resembles what Meta agreed to in settling with 47 states.
The Product Desk · Product desk
What happened
- Alabama's suit against TikTok and ByteDance, filed last year, settled with a trial scheduled for next week.
- The New York Times reported the measures are similar to those Meta agreed to adopt in its $18 billion settlement with 47 states.
- In August, TikTok agreed to pay the Justice Department $400 million to settle claims that it broke children's privacy laws.
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Why it matters
- cost Non-delivery is priced at up to three times the settlement floor, so the larger payment TikTok could owe Alabama depends on whether it ships the required features.
- constraint Daily use by underage accounts now has an agreed ceiling of 120 minutes, so a feed change that lengthens teen sessions gains nothing past that line.
- precedent The more than a dozen states that sued TikTok in 2024 can open their own negotiations from a feature list Alabama already has in writing.
Under its Alabama deal, TikTok has to build a control that lets a parent take a teenager's two-hour daily allowance and cut it shorter [8]. The two-hour limit itself, on the reported terms, applies to underage users whether or not a parent does anything [8].
Engadget describes the package as safety measures meant to address the states' concerns [10]. What TikTok has to ship is six specific changes [3], and a product team would scope and test them in separate groups. Three limit what the app does for underage users: the time limit and the restrictions on unlimited scrolling and overnight access [8][9]. One is a removal, since beauty filters are banned [9]. Two only matter if someone chooses them: the parental control, and a non-personalized feed that TikTok will offer younger users [8][9].
The payments are tied to the build. TikTok pays at least $100 million to settle [1]. If it fails to implement the changes, it could owe as much as $300 million [11], three times the floor [1]. On that wording, the obligation is to ship. A parental control that ships and that no parent ever opens would count as done. The reporting does not include any measure of how much time teens spend in the app before or after the changes.
The terms bind only TikTok, through its deal with Alabama [1][11]. According to The New York Times, Meta and TikTok have now each agreed to similar lists [6]. This is TikTok's first state deal over addiction claims, according to Reuters [3], and suits filed by more than a dozen other states in 2024 are still open against it [5]. Counting the $400 million Justice Department children's privacy settlement in August [12], TikTok has agreed to at least $500 million in child-related settlements [4].
A product lead at another app with under-18 users can run TikTok's six items through a two-column check. The first column asks whether the app has the feature. The second asks whether it reaches minors without anyone switching it on. Two yeses means the item is done. A yes and a no means it exists as an opt-in setting. The Alabama terms set the time limit for underage users and leave parents only the choice to go lower [8]. Two noes is the work a settlement would assign, with a penalty attached for not shipping it [11].
What to watch
- Whether TikTok ships the two-hour limit and the scrolling and overnight restrictions to all US minors or only to Alabama accounts.
- Whether any of the more than a dozen states that sued TikTok in 2024 settle on the same feature list or hold out for more.
- Whether Alabama moves to collect any part of the up-to-$300 million for changes TikTok fails to implement.