Tiktok launches family mode in latest bid to improve user safety
Tiktok today unveiled a new feature aimed at helping parents and guardians keep their children safe, marking the social media platform’s latest effort to fight off concerns about harmful material.
The video-sharing app’s family safety mode will link a parent’s Tiktok account to their teenager’s, allowing them to control a range of features remotely.
Parents will be able to control how long their child spends on the app, limit or cut off direct messaging and restrict content that appears on their feed.
Separately, the company has moved its screen time management feature into the feed, meaning users will see prompts encouraging them to consider taking some time away from the app.
Tiktok, which is owned by Chinese tech giant Bytedance, has outlined a string of new safety measures in recent months amid concerns about harmful content posted to its platform, cybersecurity flaws and potential censorship by Beijing.
The social media firm has established a new trust and safety hub in Dublin and has published its first transparency report outlining the nature of government requests for its users’ data.
Tiktok is also considering setting up a curated content feed in a bid to create a ring-fenced premium space for advertisers, the Financial Times reported.
“As part of our commitment to safety, the wellbeing of our users is incredibly important to us,” said Cormac Keenan, Tiktok’s head of trust and safety for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
“We want people to have fun on TikTok, but it’s also important for our community to look after their wellbeing which means having a healthy relationship with online apps and services.”
Tiktok has racked up over 1bn users over the last three years and is now one of the world’s most downloaded apps. Last month it secured a deal with music rights agency Merlin as it gears up to launch a new streaming app to rival Spotify.
However, the company’s Chinese ownership has raised concerns in the US, which has launched a national security review of Bytedance’s $1bn (£768m) of American social media app Musical.ly.