Description
TikTok said Wednesday it was developing a tool that would allow parents to block their teens from viewing content containing certain words or hashtags on the short-form video app as the embattled society seeks to bolster its public image. TikTok, owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance, is facing new scrutiny around the world for its proximity to the Chinese government and the protection of user data. The app, popular with young users, has been banned from government-owned phones in the United States, Canada and other countries due to security concerns.
Like other social media apps, TikTok has also been criticized for not doing enough to protect teens from inappropriate content.
Development of the parental control feature is in its early stages and the app will consult with parent, youth and civil society organizations to design the tool, TikTok said.
It also announced new features to help users limit the time they spend in the app. Accounts of users under the age of 18 will automatically be limited to one hour per day, and teens will need to enter a passcode to continue using the app, TikTok said in a blog post.
If teens choose to remove the daily limit and scroll through TikTok for more than 100 minutes a day, the app will display a message encouraging them to set time limits.
Parents will also now be able to set custom time limits for their teens' TikTok usage based on the day of the week, the company said.
