ArticlesOn September 25, 2026, days before the case was set for trial in Montgomery, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced a settlement with TikTok. The Attorney General called it a first-in-the-nation agreement, and Alabama would have been the first state to take these claims against TikTok to a jury. It is the first time TikTok has settled a state’s teen-safety claims, and it came out of an Alabama courthouse. For Alabama parents, the deal changes how the app works for their teenagers over the coming months. It does not, however, put money in any family’s pocket. Here is what it does and what it does not do.
How Alabama’s Case Against TikTok Started
On April 25, 2025, the Attorney General sued TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, in the Circuit Court of Montgomery County. The state claimed TikTok violated the Alabama Deceptive Trade Practices Act by telling families the app was safe for young users while designing it to keep them scrolling. That is the same theme running through the thousands of personal injury cases filed by families around the country, but the state’s case was brought on behalf of Alabama as a whole, not any one child.
What TikTok Agreed to Pay
TikTok must pay the state at least $100 million within 45 days. About $183.8 million more is contingent on other states reaching qualifying settlements with TikTok within set time windows, which is how the total can reach $300 million. All of it goes to the State of Alabama.
What Changes for Alabama Teens on TikTok
According to the Attorney General’s office, the agreement requires TikTok to give Alabama teen users:
- A two-hour daily time limit, with parental controls
- Prompts to take a break at 15, 60, and 90 minutes of continuous use
- No access between midnight and 6 a.m.
- Limits on messages and notifications overnight and during school hours
- Stronger age verification and content moderation
- No cosmetic or appearance-altering filters for teens
- Teen accounts set to private by default
- An option for a feed that is not personalized
- Limits on how easily adults can find teen accounts, and better parental controls
Some of these changes take effect in stages over the coming months rather than all at once. If your teen still sees the old settings, that may be why.
What the Settlement Does Not Do
It does not pay individual families. The money is the state’s. It does not resolve or affect the personal injury claims that families have filed in federal MDL No. 3047 or in the California state court proceeding, and TikTok remains a defendant in those cases. It also does not stop the clock on anyone’s filing deadline. If your child was harmed, your claim is still yours to bring, and still yours to lose if you wait too long.
Why the Settlement Still Matters for Your Child’s Claim
TikTok has now chosen to settle rather than face a courtroom several times. It settled confidentially before the first individual bellwether trial in Los Angeles in early 2026, settled again before the second bellwether in June 2026, and has now settled Alabama’s case days before trial. A settlement is not an admission, and this one does not say TikTok did anything wrong. But it shows how the company weighs the risk of a jury.
The conduct terms matter too. Many of the features TikTok has now agreed to limit for Alabama teens, including round-the-clock access, endless personalized feeds, and appearance filters, are the same features families’ lawsuits describe as harmful. It is harder for a company to argue a feature could not be changed after it agreed to change it.
Alabama Law Still Shapes a TikTok Claim
Alabama generally allows two years to file a personal injury claim, and the rules for minors run differently, so have your dates checked rather than assuming. Alabama also follows contributory negligence, a strict rule that the platforms can try to use against families, though Alabama law treats young children differently. Our Alabama social media addiction lawyer page explains both. Families in the Birmingham area can also see our Birmingham social media addiction lawyer page, and our TikTok addiction lawsuit page covers the claims against TikTok nationwide.
What Alabama Families Should Do Now
- Gather treatment records. Diagnosis and treatment for depression, anxiety, an eating disorder, self-harm, or suicidal behavior is the core of a claim.
- Keep the account. Do not delete your child’s TikTok account. TikTok lets users download their account data, which can show how much time was spent on the app and when.
- Write down the timeline. When heavy use started, when symptoms started, and when treatment began.
- Get the deadline checked. A short call can confirm how long your family has.
Fob & Foster Personal Injury Lawyers reviews these cases at no cost and handles them on contingency, so there is no fee unless we recover. Call (205) 407-6009. For every development in the litigation, see our social media addiction lawsuit timeline.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will my family get money from the TikTok Alabama settlement?
No. The settlement pays the State of Alabama. It does not compensate any individual child or family. A family whose child was harmed needs its own personal injury claim.
Do we still need a lawyer if the state already settled with TikTok?
Yes, if you want compensation for your child. The state’s case and your family’s case are separate, and the state’s settlement does not file, pause, or resolve anything for you. Your filing deadline keeps running.
Does the settlement cover Instagram, Snapchat, or YouTube?
No. It covers TikTok only. Meta settled separately with the states on August 26, 2026, and claims against Snap and YouTube are still being litigated.
Fob James, IV
Fob James obtained a B.S., in software engineering from Auburn University and then continued his education by getting his J.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Law. After working for a large national firm for several years, Fob found that his passion was fighting for individuals who have been seriously injured or wronged by others. Fob believes that the jury is the great equalizer to the power and influence that large corporations have in society. Many of Fob’s cases are high profile and have been featured in, among others: Bloomberg News, PlanAdvisor, AL.com, PlanSponsor, InsuranceJournal, and BusinessInsider. For his work in obtaining numerous multi-million dollar outcomes for his clients, Fob has been recognized by: National Trial Lawyers Top 100, SuperLawyers Rising Star (2020-2026), Birmingham Business Journal Who’s Who in Law (2023-2025), and TrustAnalytica – Top Personal Injury Lawyers in Alabama.