TikTok Settlement Could Change More Than Teen Screen Time in Alabama

Doomscrolling is an issue many people have been dealing with over the last few years, especially younger users. Social media platforms have been blamed for encouraging that behaviour, and many of them have introduced guardrails to try to reduce it.

Despite those efforts, regulators and governments are still coming down hard on them.

TikTok has now joined the growing list of social media platforms facing that same fate. The company has agreed to pay the state of Alabama $100 million and introduce a two-hour daily limit for teens, overnight restrictions, and school-hour blocks. TikTok says it's committed to teen safety.

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Why Alabama came after TikTok

Alabama alleged TikTok was designed to hook young users "just like a sophisticated gambling machine." The state later narrowed its case to claims under Alabama's Deceptive Trade Practices Act, focusing on whether TikTok misrepresented the effectiveness of features like Restricted Mode and Kids Mode.

The deal was reached just before a jury trial was set to begin. Alabama described it as a "first-in-the-nation settlement."

TikTok is required to pay $100 million within 45 days. It could end up paying as much as $300 million if 40 other attorneys general sign similar agreements.

The company must also introduce a two-hour daily usage limit for children, overnight restrictions, and school-hour blocks. It has to strengthen age verification, ban beauty filters for teens, limit children's accounts from being discovered by adults, and notify parents of "suspicious interactions" between teen and adult users. Most of these measures take effect immediately, while age verification has up to a year to roll out.

Despite claiming teen safety is a priority, TikTok is still getting fined over it

TikTok has long claimed teen safety is a priority. It has repeatedly pointed to features like Restricted Mode and Kids Mode as proof that it protects younger users.

But Alabama's lawsuit argued those features were misrepresented and didn't actually limit access to harmful content in the way TikTok claimed they did.

The settlement forces an awkward question for the company: if these features were already effective, why did it take a lawsuit to strengthen them?

It's not only TikTok paying fines over child safety

Alabama's settlement mirrors the growing pressure facing other social media companies.