TikTok to pay up to $300 million following deaths of young people

TikTok and its parent company ByteDance reached a landmark settlement with the state of Alabama, just before a trial examining the platform's responsibility for harming children's mental health. The settlement includes an immediate payment of $100 million, which could rise to $300 million if the company fails to meet strict technological commitments: a daily screen limit of two hours, blocking access at night, and a ban on cosmetic filters.

TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance reached a landmark settlement in the United States, just before the start of a major trial aimed at examining their responsibility for harming the mental health of children and teenagers. The settlement was signed with the state of Alabama and includes an immediate payment of $100 million, which could rise to $300 million if the company fails to meet a series of strict technological commitments. The lawsuit, filed last year, accused TikTok of deceiving parents and deliberately embedding addictive algorithmic mechanisms designed to capture the attention of minors – a phenomenon linked to cases of depression, self-harm, and tragic deaths of young people. As part of the agreement, TikTok was required to enforce a daily viewing limit of two hours for each minor user, expand parental control tools, block infinite scrolling, disable access to the app during nighttime hours, and ban the use of cosmetic filters that distort facial appearance. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall welcomed the agreement. TikTok, for its part, stated that the settlement is based on its ongoing commitment to improving safety tools. The Alabama settlement joins a broader wave of regulation: Meta signed a massive settlement of over $17 billion last month with dozens of states, and in August, TikTok paid $400 million to the U.S. Department of Justice for violations of children's privacy.