MONTGOMERY — Alabama has reached a settlement with TikTok that will pay the state at least $100 million and require the social media platform to add new limits for children and teens, Attorney General Steve Marshall announced Friday.
The money is due within 45 days, and the total could rise to as much as $300 million if certain conditions are met, according to the attorney general’s office.
The agreement resolves Alabama’s lawsuit accusing TikTok of designing its platform with addictive features, knowingly exposing young users to serious mental harm and misleading the public about the app’s safety. The case had been set to go to trial Monday, and the attorney general’s office said Alabama would have been the first state to take its claims against TikTok to trial. Marshall’s office called the deal a first-in-the-nation settlement.
“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. “TikTok has agreed to give parents real control over what their kids see and how much time they spend on the app.”
What changes for young users
Under the settlement, TikTok must put in place:
- A two-hour daily time limit, with parental controls that let parents set a lower limit
- “Productive pauses” that interrupt teen users after 15 minutes of continuous scrolling, and again at 60 and 90 minutes
- Restricted access for children from midnight to 6 a.m., plus limits on messaging and push notifications overnight and during school hours
- Stronger age-verification measures
- Tighter content moderation, including making teen accounts harder for adults to find and notifying parents of suspicious contact between teens and adults
- A ban on cosmetic filters for teen users
- A non-personalized feed as the default for teens
- Stronger, easier-to-use parental controls
Part of a broader push
The TikTok agreement follows a multistate settlement with Meta announced last month that the attorney general’s office said will bring $117 million to Alabama over similar claims. Marshall’s office also previously reached a settlement with the gaming platform Roblox requiring stronger child protections and $12 million for school resource officers, and has announced an investigation into OpenAI.
The state was represented by Josh Hayes of Prince Glover Hayes and Rhon Jones of Beasley Allen, along with attorneys from the attorney general’s Consumer Protection Division.
The full release and a link to the settlement are available on the Alabama Attorney General’s website.
Source: Alabama Attorney General’s Office (press release, Sept. 25, 2026)
