TikTok to pay Alabama $100m and limit teenage use in first state settlement
Trial had been set for Monday over claims by Alabama that TikTok misled parents about tools meant to shield children from harmful content
TL;DR
- TikTok settles with Alabama for at least $100 million, avoiding a trial.
- New restrictions for teen users include a two-hour daily time limit and restricted access from midnight to 6 am.
- The settlement also involves suspending notifications during school hours, strengthening age verification, banning beauty filters for teens, and offering a non-personalized content feed.
- Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall hailed the settlement as a victory for parents, ensuring protections against social media addiction.
- The deal could potentially reach up to $300 million if other states join similar agreements.
- Alabama's lawsuit accused TikTok of misleading parents about its child safety features and engineering the app to be addictive.
- The settlement follows similar litigation against social media companies like Meta, which agreed to pay $18 billion to settle a lawsuit over its platforms' impact on children.
- More than a dozen other states, including California and New York, still have lawsuits pending against TikTok.