TikTok's two-hour limit: what changes for you
TikTok will pay $100 million to Alabama and apply age verification, a two-hour cap and a non-personalized feed for minors.
Your app already has new rules, and your mom didn't write them. TikTok accepted a two-hour daily limit for minors and other measures in a $100 million settlement with Alabama, Reason reported.
The case was headed to trial on Monday, but on Friday the parties closed the deal. Attorney General Steve Marshall's lawsuit alleged that the platform knowingly harmed the mental health of children and teens. His office framed it as a new win against tech companies that put minors at risk.
What changes in the app
The settlement requires TikTok to apply five things:
«No fine buys wisdom.»
- A two-hour daily usage cap for minors.
- Access restrictions during the night.
- A non-personalized feed by default for teens.
- Stronger parental controls.
- Solid age verification, to actually confirm who is a minor.
TikTok could owe an extra $183.8 million if other states sign equivalent agreements, according to the Associated Press. Alabama had already been collecting: in April, Roblox paid $12.2 million for online safety, and last month Meta paid $117 million within a multistate lawsuit worth $17.1 billion.
What they'll ask you to verify your age
Here's the delicate point. In the Roblox case, according to the state, the company said it would use facial recognition and official ID documents to verify its users.
According to Reason, whatever TikTok applies in Alabama would also reach adults, because the platform needs to tell a minor apart from an older user. That complicates online anonymity and leaves an open question: how much of your information is needed just to watch videos.
The law doesn't breed wisdom
Australia banned social media for minors under 16 and the result was poor: many kids were never asked to verify their age. Whoever hits a padlock looks for a way around it. An older friend creates the account, someone fools the verification, others use a VPN.
Host Ira Glass reported last week that minors were chatting in the comments of an NPR program on Spotify. They chose that place, one of them said, because almost nobody comments there.
Mike Masnick, of Techdirt, recounted that students whose school banned social media used Google Docs as a group chat. "We can keep playing whack-a-mole until we legislate away every space where teens talk without adult supervision," he wrote (Sígueme translation). That's why, he says, it's better to teach them to move safely online.
That's where your time comes in, and it isn't an infinite resource.
"Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:15-16, ESV).
The two-hour cap can help you, but it won't make you wise on its own: no fine buys wisdom, and no company is going to decide for you what your attention is worth.
Check your time settings on TikTok today: look at your daily average and set a cap you can actually keep. Tell us if you plan to respect it and what's the first thing you'll stop doing on your phone. The app changed its rules; your priorities are yours to decide.
