In significant progress on its promise to create a safer digital environment for young people, TikTok has released a new feature in its Family Pairing tool. The social media giant now incorporates a content filtering system, allowing parents to set custom limits for the videos their teens can watch on the platform.
New Content Filtering Tool
Family Pairing is a tool that TikTok launched to allow parents to link their account with that of their children, and thus be able to configure and control aspects of content and privacy. With the new addition, parents will be able to filter videos that contain words or hashtags they deem inappropriate. In this way, the possibility of young people coming across content that may be disturbing to them is reduced.
In developing this new functionality, TikTok has consulted with experts, including the Family Online Safety Institute. This has been done with the aim of finding a balance that allows families to choose the best experience for their needs, while respecting the rights of young people to participate in the digital world.
By default, teens will be able to see keywords that their parent or guardian has added. These keywords will provide a custom layer on top of the search system. Content Levels of TikTok, which already helps keep users between the ages of 13 and 17 away from content with more mature or complex themes.
Global Youth Council
Another novelty of TikTok is the launch of a Global Youth Council scheduled for the end of this year. This council is intended to listen to the experiences of those who directly use the platform and to be in a better position to make changes that create the safest possible experience for the community.
Screen Time Control
At the beginning of the year, TikTok updated its screen time control with more personalized options. As part of these changes, the app set a default daily screen time limit of 60 minutes for teen accounts. Once young people reach this limit, they are asked to enter an access code to continue using the platform. Despite initial doubts about the effectiveness of this tool, TikTok has revealed that nearly 75% of teens choose to keep the limit.
Using Family Pairing
TikTok shared that more than 850,000 teens and their families use Family Pairing to set limits and preferences based on their individual needs. Although it may seem like a simple solution to a very complex problem, these tools provide additional control that can be crucial in protecting young people in the digital environment.
This advancement in TikTok’s parental control tools shows us once again that social media platforms have the duty and the ability to constantly adapt and improve to ensure the safety of their most vulnerable users. The protection of minors in the digital space is a shared responsibility that we must all take very seriously.
More information at TikTok Newsroom
