TikTok has reached an agreement with the state of Alabama to impose new restrictions on teenagers' use of the app. The deal, announced by Attorney General Steve Marshall, avoids the first state lawsuit against the platform and comes after months of political and public pressure. The main measure will be a two-hour daily limit for users aged 13 to 17, a limit that will be applied by default unless account settings are changed.
The agreement does not include an admission of liability from TikTok. The company has committed to modifying key features for minors and paying financial compensation. Alabama had sued the company over the social network's impact on the mental health of young people, in a context where other platforms are also facing similar lawsuits in the United States.
Two hours a day, nighttime outages, and fewer warnings
Among the agreed-upon measures, TikTok will have to restrict access for minors between midnight and 6:00 a.m. It will also have to suspend notifications during school hours and implement pauses after prolonged periods of use. Age verification will be strengthened to prevent teenagers from circumventing restrictions with accounts not registered as belonging to minors.
The platform will also prohibit aesthetic filters for users aged 13 to 17 and will offer that group a non-personalized content stream. These measures aim to reduce exposure to more addictive behaviors and content that authorities say can be harmful. The agreement comes days before a trial was set to begin in Montgomery state court.
A multi-million dollar payment and the precedent of Meta
The agreement includes a payment of $116,2 million, of which $100 million is compensation. This amount could rise to $300 million if other attorneys general decide to sign similar agreements with the company. The agreement does not require TikTok to admit wrongdoing , although it does agree to change how the app works for teenagers.
The comparison with Meta is unavoidable. The parent company of Instagram and Facebook closed a settlement in August for approximately $17.000 billion to resolve lawsuits related to youth welfare. Both companies are being forced to adopt common rules that they previously rejected or only partially implemented.
A pressure that goes beyond Alabama
The Alabama case is not an isolated incident. Nearly every state, along with thousands of families and school districts, has filed lawsuits against major platforms for their alleged impact on children's mental health. TikTok, Meta, Snap, and YouTube appear in many of these cases, painting an increasingly broad regulatory front.
The pressure isn't just coming from the courts. State authorities are seeking agreements that would force social media platforms to implement default limits, stricter age controls, and changes to their algorithms. The stated goal is to prevent minors from becoming trapped in cycles of heavy use or in bubbles of increasingly extreme content.
All of this activity makes one thing clear: TikTok is no longer just facing debates about trends or entertainment, but a legal onslaught that could redefine how the app works for young people. The settlement with Alabama, the multimillion-dollar payout, and the Meta case show that these platforms are entering a stage of forced concessions, with stricter regulations and increased scrutiny of their role in the digital lives of teenagers.