BEIJING – TikTok announced on Wednesday that it is creating a tool that will enable parents to prevent their teenagers from viewing material on the short-form video app that contains specific words or hashtags.
The latest development comes as the embattled Chinese-owned video-snippet sharing app company attempts to repair its reputation in the wake of international pressure.
TikTok, owned by the Chinese tech firm ByteDance, is under renewed international scrutiny due to its close ties to the Chinese government and its protection of user data,
Due to security concerns, the app has been taken off government-owned phones in the US, Canada, and other nations despite its enormous popularity among younger users.
In order to comply with a US Congress-ordered prohibition, the White House on Monday gave federal agencies 30 days to remove TikTok from all government-issued devices.
Similar to other social media platforms, TikTok has come under fire for not going far enough to protect young people from inappropriate material.
In a blog post, TikTok stated that the app will confer with parenting, youth, and civil society groups as it designs the parental control feature, which is still in the early stages of development.
Additionally, new features were disclosed that would assist users in setting time limits for using the app.
According to TikTok, accounts belonging to users under the age of 18 will immediately have a time limit of one hour per day.
The app will ask teenagers to set time limits if they decide to remove the daily cap and scroll TikTok for longer than 100 minutes per day.
According to the company, parents can now establish specific time limits for their teens’ usage of the app based on the day of the week.
