After consistent criticism against social media apps on the harmful impact they have on underage users, TikTok has announced measures to tackle the problem. On Wednesday, Tik Tok revealed that users under the age of 18 will now have their usage restricted to a one hour time limit.
Once the 60 minutes limit has been reached, users will have to type in a passcode to continue, a move which will allow them to make an active decision to continue using the app.
Cormac Keena, the head of trust and safety at Tik Tok, wrote a blog post where he revealed that the company had consulted experts and researchers from the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston’s Childrens Hospital about how to help teenagers limit their online activity.
“While there’s no collectively-endorsed position on how much screen time is ‘too much’, or even the impact of screen time more broadly, we recognize that teens typically require extra support as they start to explore the online world independently,” Keenan wrote.
Keenan also revealed that a new update will be added to Tik Tok’s Family Pairing feature, which will allow a parent or guardian to link their account to their child’s and set controls like filtering words or hashtags they don’t want their minor to come across, or even set a custom daily screen time limit.
