TikTok is paying Alabama $100 million to make a social media addiction lawsuit disappear before a jury ever hears it.
Alabama sued TikTok over claims that the app is built to be addictive, especially for younger users. Instead of letting a court decide whether that's true, TikTok agreed to a $100 million settlement just before the case was scheduled to go to trial. The deal resolves Alabama's claims specifically. No other terms of the agreement were disclosed.
A nine-figure check sounds like a big deal, but for a company TikTok's size, it's closer to a cost of doing business than a real deterrent. What's more notable is the pattern: settling before trial lets TikTok write a check without a judge or jury ever ruling on whether its algorithm is actually designed to hook kids.
That question - does the app manipulate attention on purpose - still hasn't been tested in open court, in Alabama or anywhere else, and this settlement guarantees it won't be anytime soon.