After Meta, TikTok agrees to teen limits in US, $100 million settlement
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "After Meta, TikTok agrees to teen limits in US, $100 million settlement")
The TikTok logo is displayed outside TikTok social media app company offices in Culver City, California, on March 16, 2023. Photograph: (AFP)
TikTok has agreed to pay Alabama $100 million and introduce stricter limits for teenage users in the US, following similar measures adopted by Meta.
TikTok has agreed to pay Alabama at least $100 million and introduce new restrictions for teenage users, allowing the social media company to avoid a trial over allegations that it misled parents about child safety tools.
A trial in the southern US state was scheduled to begin on Monday. Alabama had accused TikTok of misleading parents about measures designed to protect children from harmful content.
TikTok agrees to new restrictions for teens
Under the settlement, TikTok will pay $100 million to Alabama. The company could pay as much as $300 million if other states agree to similar settlements.
The agreement includes several measures aimed at limiting teenage use of the platform. These include a two-hour daily time limit, restricted access between midnight and 6:00 am and suspended notifications during school hours.
TikTok will also strengthen age verification and ban beauty filters for teenage users. Young users will additionally be offered a non-personalised content feed.
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The settlement also includes a conditional measure that could extend the overnight restriction from 10:00 pm to 7:00 am if other social media platforms agree to introduce the same restriction.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall welcomed the agreement, calling it "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," he said.
Settlement follows Meta's child safety deal
TikTok's agreement follows similar safety measures accepted by Meta, the owner of Instagram and Facebook, as social media companies face lawsuits across the United States over the alleged impact of their platforms on young users.
In August, Meta reached a settlement with US states and territories over a case concerning child safety on Facebook and Instagram. The company agreed to pay up to $16.7 billion to a coalition of US states and introduce new restrictions on teenage users.
Under that agreement, Facebook and Instagram will automatically block teenage users from midnight to 6:00 am local time. Teenage accounts will also have a default limit of two hours of cumulative daily use across Meta's apps. Time spent messaging or watching long-form video will not count towards the limit.
Both measures could become stricter if other social media companies introduce similar restrictions.
In March, a jury in New Mexico ordered Meta to pay $375 million after finding that the company had misled the public about the safety of its platforms for children.
The same month, a Los Angeles jury found Meta and Google's YouTube negligent in a case involving a 20-year-old woman who said she became addicted to social media as a child. The jury awarded her $6 million.
A trial in Alabama could have subjected TikTok to extensive public scrutiny over its internal safety practices, including the possible disclosure of company documents and testimony from executives.
