"TikTok": $300 million settlement with Alabama

TikTok has agreed to restrict how teenagers use its platform in the U.S. state of Alabama and to pay up to $300 million to avoid a trial over allegations that it deliberately designed its app to cause addiction among children. The settlement, announced by Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, includes a daily two-hour time limit for young users and restrictions on access between midnight and 6 a.m. Teenagers will also be barred from using beauty filters in videos. These changes will apply only in the southern U.S. state. The Alabama trial was scheduled to begin the following week and was expected to focus partly on allegations that the short-video platform was deliberately designed to encourage addictive behavior among children. Last month, Meta, the parent company of Instagram, agreed to similar restrictions as part of a settlement with several U.S. states that included payments of up to $18 billion.