TikTok has agreed to pay Alabama $100 million and introduce new restrictions for teenage users in the state, settling a major lawsuit just days before it was scheduled to go to trial.
Alabama filed the lawsuit in 2025, alleging that TikTok intentionally designed its platform to be addictive, exposed younger users to potential mental health risks and misrepresented the safety of its app. TikTok denies the allegations and admits no wrongdoing under the settlement.
Under the agreement, Alabama users between 13 and 17 will face several new default restrictions.
Teen accounts will be locked out of TikTok between midnight and 6 AM, while a two-hour daily usage limit will also be enabled automatically. Teens will need approval from a linked parent account to loosen either restriction.
TikTok will also introduce reminders after 60 and 90 minutes of daily use, followed by additional notifications for every 15 minutes of continuous scrolling.
Push notifications will automatically be disabled between 10 PM and 7 AM and during school hours. Teen accounts will remain private by default and will be more difficult for adult users to discover.
The agreement also requires TikTok to disable beauty filters for teens when those effects digitally change facial features in ways that could otherwise require cosmetic surgery. Makeup, fantasy and parody filters will remain available.
Within nine months, teenage users will also be offered the option to switch to a non-personalized feed that does not rely on TikTok’s recommendation algorithm.
The case had been scheduled to begin on Monday and would have marked the first time a U.S. state took its case against TikTok before a jury.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall described the settlement as a victory for parents, arguing that the changes would give families greater control over what children see and how much time they spend on the platform.