Montgomery, Sep 27 (V7N)- TikTok and its parent company ByteDance have agreed to pay $100 million to the US state of Alabama and introduce a series of new measures aimed at limiting children's use of the social media platform.
The agreement settles a lawsuit filed by Alabama alleging that TikTok deliberately designed certain features to encourage addictive use among children. The settlement was reached shortly before the case was scheduled to go to a jury trial.
Under the agreement, children in Alabama will face a daily TikTok usage limit of two hours. The platform will also be restricted during certain nighttime periods and school hours.
The measures apply only to users in Alabama, making the agreement the first settlement of its kind between TikTok and a US state.
Katherine Robertson, Chief Legal Officer at the Alabama Attorney General's Office, told the BBC that the state was satisfied with the agreement.
She said several rounds of mediation had taken place between Alabama and TikTok before the trial, with the final settlement reflecting the state's ultimate proposal.
The agreement requires TikTok to make a number of changes to its child-safety policies. The daily usage limits and restrictions during nighttime and school hours will take effect immediately.
TikTok, however, will have up to one year to introduce other measures, including new age-verification systems.
Under the settlement, parents will receive greater control over their children's TikTok accounts. The company will also introduce stronger age-verification measures and restrict children's access to certain categories of content.
The agreement further seeks to make it more difficult for adult users to locate accounts belonging to minors. Parents will also be notified if the platform detects what it considers suspicious contact between an adult user and a minor.
In addition, TikTok will prohibit the use of cosmetic and beauty filters by children under the new rules.
The settlement also contains financial provisions in the event of a breach. While Alabama could potentially be required to pay TikTok up to $300 million under certain circumstances, TikTok and ByteDance must pay the agreed $100 million to the Alabama state government within 45 days.
The settlement represents a significant state-level agreement over the use of TikTok by children and places new restrictions on the platform's operations for minors in Alabama.
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