Social media platforms are ramping up features with the aim of protecting minors on their platform including Instagram and Google. TikTok is the latest social network to introduce new safety features for teens.
Social media platforms have come under intense scrutiny lawmakers and advocacy groups pushing for the networks to focus on cyberbullying and mental health.
Disabled Direct Messaging
TikTok will now set messages for new accounts of teenagers between 16 and 17 years old to No one by default when they join TikTok.
TikTok has already disabled direct messaging for minors under 16 years old.
TikTok already made accounts for minors under 16 private by default in January thus year.
It’s worth noting that TikTok only allows direct messaging between mutuals – that is people who already follow each other.
If you are a teen and have never used direct messaging, TikTok will send a prompt asking them to review their privacy settings.
Disabled Push Notifications
Minors between 13 and 15 will now not get push notifications after 9 pm. Teens between 16 and 17 will have their push notifications disabled after 10 pm.
Privacy Settings Pop-up Reminders
TikTok will also have pop-ups to remind teens of the app’s privacy settings.
Minors under 16 will get a pop-up to ask them who they want to let watch their video when they’re about to publish their first video.
They will also not have access to Duet or Stitch features.
16-year-olds and 17-year-olds will get a pop-up when they have enabled video downloads for their videos alerting them that their published videos will be downloaded by other people to be shared on other social networks.
It’s worth noting that TikTok has already disabled video downloads for minors under 16 years.
“Our priority is to ensure teens on TikTok have a safe and age-appropriate experience as they create and share on our platform,” said Tracy Elizabeth, TikTok’s global minor-safety policy lead.
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