TikTok与亚拉巴马州达成诉讼和解 将支付至多3亿美元并限制儿童使用TikTok Settles Alabama Child Safety Lawsuit for Up to $300 Million

原定于周一在亚拉巴马州蒙哥马利州立法院开始的陪审团审判预计持续两至三周，原本将公开审查该平台不对外公开的内部运营细节。随着双方在审前调解中达成最终协议，TikTok已将其被选定开庭审理的所有既有案件全部和解，包括涉及5名未成年人与肯塔基州一个学区的诉讼。

The jury trial scheduled to begin Monday in Montgomery state court was expected to last two to three weeks, offering a rare public look into the company's closely guarded internal operations. Following pre-trial mediation where the state issued its final offer, the agreement resolves all cases previously selected for trial against the platform, including earlier claims filed by five young individuals and a Kentucky school district.

在财务条款方面，TikTok须在和解协议达成后的45天内向亚拉巴马州支付1亿美元基础款项。若全美其他40位州总检察长在规定期限内与该公司签署类似协议，或TikTok未能满足和解协议中约定的整改条件，该州获得的赔偿总额最高可上升至3亿美元。

Under the financial terms of the settlement, TikTok is required to pay the baseline sum of $100 million to Alabama within 45 days. The total payout to the state could increase to as much as $300 million if 40 other state attorneys general sign on to similar agreements within a specified timeframe, or if the company fails to meet the compliance conditions set forth in the agreement.

和解协议对TikTok在亚拉巴马州的运营施加了具体的限制性禁令救济要求。平台必须为未成年人设立每日两小时的使用上限，并在连续使用15分钟后触发强制暂停，同时在夜间和上课时间实施使用封锁。这些时间限制和使用阻断措施规定即刻生效。此外，TikTok全面禁止未成年人使用所有美容滤镜，以减少对青少年心理形象的负面影响。

The settlement imposes detailed injunctive relief measures specifically governing TikTok's operations in Alabama. The platform must establish a strict two-hour daily usage limit for minors, enforce mandatory pauses after 15 minutes of continuous scrolling, and implement access blocks during overnight hours and school periods. These usage restrictions and time limits take effect immediately. Additionally, the agreement institutes a blanket ban prohibiting children in the state from using any cosmetic filters.

在家长控制与账户安全方面，协议要求TikTok向家长提供严格管理子女使用情况的工具，限制成年用户发现儿童账户，并在未成年人与成年用户之间出现可疑互动时通知家长。关于身份与年龄核验机制，TikTok获得最长一年的过渡期来建立更严格的年龄验证程序，以阻止未成年人通过不建账号直接浏览视频来规避年龄审查。

The agreement also expands parental controls and youth privacy safeguards on the platform. TikTok is required to provide tools enabling parents to heavily moderate how their children use the app, restrict adult users from discovering underage accounts, and alert parents whenever suspicious interactions occur between minors and adults. While operational time blocks apply right away, TikTok has been granted up to one year to establish enhanced age-verification mechanisms designed to prevent children from evading age checks by browsing without registered accounts.

亚拉巴马州在起诉书中提出多项指控，称TikTok的无尽视频流设计使其成为极具成瘾性的社交平台，其算法将未成年人推向暴力与自残等高强度内容，并将青少年急诊就医人数激增部分归咎于该平台。诉状还指控TikTok虚假宣称限制未成年人接触色情与暴力内容以在各应用商店获取适龄评级，并误导用户关于数据访问的问题。此外，该州指出未成年人无需注册账号即可浏览视频，导致算法仍能收集其观看习惯，而针对儿童的“青少年模式”因此形同虚设。

Alabama's lawsuit set forth extensive allegations against TikTok, arguing that its endless video feed made it the most addictive social media platform and that its recommendation algorithms pushed underage users toward increasingly intense content involving violence and self-harm, contributing to a teen mental health crisis and a surge in emergency room visits. The state also accused the company of falsely claiming it restricted sexual and violent material so it could maintain safe age ratings in major app stores, as well as misleading users about data access. Furthermore, the complaint alleged that allowing minors to view videos without creating an account let the company collect habit data while rendering curated protections such as Kids Mode useless.

针对和解结果，亚拉巴马州总检察长Steve Marshall表示，家长今晚可以更安心地知晓平台已建立实质保护机制，以防止儿童陷入社交媒体成瘾。该州总检察长办公室首席法律顾问Katherine Robertson指出，协议中的限制性禁令救济要求TikTok改变多项被指伤害儿童的关键政策。TikTok发言人则回应称，平台的核心目标与承诺是持续强化保护青少年的安全工具，并曾援引联邦法律第230条主张对用户生成的内容免责。

Officials and company representatives offered contrasting reflections on the outcome. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said parents could rest easier knowing enforceable protections were established to shield children from social media addiction, while the office's chief counsel Katherine Robertson described the settlement as restrictive injunctive relief forcing changes to key policies. A spokesperson for TikTok stated that the agreement aligned with its ongoing objective to enhance robust safety tools for teens, noting the company had previously maintained that teen safety was a core design priority while citing Section 230 protections regarding user-generated content.

亚拉巴马州的诉讼和解只是全美针对主流科技平台诉讼浪潮的一部分。当前，TikTok仍面临至少27个州与华盛顿特区发起的类似诉讼，同时还有来自个人、学区以及市政当局提起的数千起指控其损害青少年心理健康的诉讼。除TikTok外，Meta Platforms、Snap以及Alphabet旗下的YouTube在多起同类法律诉讼中也被列为共同被告。

Alabama's settlement represents one part of an extensive wave of nationwide legal actions targeting major social media networks. TikTok still faces parallel lawsuits brought by at least 27 other states and Washington, D.C., alongside thousands of cases filed by individuals, school districts, and municipalities alleging severe impacts on youth mental health. In many of these multi-jurisdiction proceedings, Meta Platforms, Snap Inc, and Alphabet's YouTube are named as co-defendants facing comparable allegations over teen addiction and safety controls.

上个月，Meta与47个州、华盛顿特区以及美国属地达成了总额约171亿美元的广泛和解协议。Meta在未承认存在违法过错的情况下，同意对其旗下平台Instagram与Facebook的青少年访问权限作出修改，并将其中的50亿美元赔付款项与TikTok、Snap和YouTube是否采纳相同保护条款相挂钩。亚拉巴马州针对TikTok达成的多项保护措施，正是沿用了此前Meta与52位州总检察长在8月达成协议时确立的监管框架。

Last month, competitor Meta reached a landmark $17.1 billion settlement with 47 states, Washington, D.C., and US territories regarding teens' access to Instagram and Facebook. Without admitting wrongdoing, Meta agreed to institute broad platform changes and tied $5 billion of its payout to whether peers like TikTok, Snap, and YouTube adopt equivalent terms. Many of the user restrictions established in Alabama's agreement directly follow the framework crafted in that August multi-state settlement struck with 52 attorneys general.