All TikTok users aged 16 and below will automatically have their accounts set to private, as the popular video-sharing platform enforces new measures to improve child safety.
All user accounts with registered ages between 13-15 will be privatized by default. According to the platform, only approved followers will view or comment on videos shared by private accounts.
“As young people start their digital journey,” Eric Han, Head of US Safety, TikTok, says, “we believe it’s important to provide them with age-appropriate privacy settings and controls.”
TikTok plans to encourage its massive youth population to “make informed choices about what and with whom they choose to share.”
The platform is also introducing several other measures around child safety.
Here are some of the new privacy settings:
- Strict Commenting options: Users between 13 and 15 will now choose between Friends or No One to comment on their videos. The everyone option has been axed.
- New Duet and Stitch settings: Changing Duet and Stitch settings will only be available for users age 16 and over, and those between age 16-17 will have friends as the default setting.
- Video download restrictions – TikTok will, by default, block downloads of videos created by accounts of users below age 16. Those aged 16-17 will also have to turn the feature themselves as the default option will be Off.
- Restricting reach: TikTok will set the “Suggest your account to others” setting off by default for all under 16s.
“By engaging them early in their privacy journey, we can enable them to make more deliberate decisions about their online privacy,” Han said.
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