TikTok has agreed to pay Alabama $100 million and introduce new restrictions on teenage users to settle a lawsuit brought by the US state.
The agreement, reached on Friday, came shortly before a trial was scheduled to begin over allegations that TikTok misled parents about measures designed to protect children from harmful content.
Under the settlement, teenagers will be limited to two hours of TikTok use each day. The platform will also block teen access from midnight to 6am and stop sending notifications during school hours.
TikTok will strengthen its age-verification system, ban beauty filters for teenage users and provide young people with a non-personalised content feed.
The company could pay up to $300 million if other states reach similar agreements with TikTok.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said the settlement would strengthen protections for children using social media.
Alabama filed the lawsuit against TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, in 2025. The state initially accused the platform of using features designed to keep young users engaged for long periods.
The case was later narrowed to allegations that TikTok had misrepresented the effectiveness of safety features such as Restricted Mode and Kids Mode. Alabama alleged that users could still be exposed to content involving suicide, self-harm, eating disorders, alcohol and sex while using those settings.
TikTok said the settlement builds on its existing efforts to improve safety tools for teenagers.
The company still faces similar lawsuits from more than a dozen other US states, including California and New York.
The settlement follows growing legal action against social media companies over allegations concerning the effects of their platforms on children and teenagers.
