This seems to be the season where every platform seems to care about the security and privacy of young users. Instagram, owned by Facebook, launched it. Apple has joined the bandwagon, albeit controversially. Then Google and YouTube followed suit. Now TikTok is on it too. TikTok is to limit the direct messaging capabilities of accounts belonging to 16 and 17 year olds by disabling the DM feature by default. "We want to help teens make active choices about their privacy settings. So when someone 16-17 joins TikTok, their direct messaging setting will now be set to 'Nobody' by default. Send Messages to other people, they will need to actively switch to another sharing option." The direct messaging option for all existing accounts of users under the age of 16 is already disabled by default.
No push notifications after 9pm
As part of the new update, young users can choose to post content to all of their followers, to just their friends, or to themselves. A pop-up alert, upon downloading the video, will ask young users to specifically choose who can see their clip. TikTok also said it wants its young users to "develop positive digital habits early on" and that managing screen time is a key aspect of that. In this context, a new mindfulness feature has also been introduced, and accounts aged 13-15 will now have their push notifications disabled starting at 9pm each night. The push notification feature will turn off at 10pm for 16 and 17 year olds. "Through our work with teens, parents, NGOs and academics, we will continue to develop new ways for teens to express their creativity and find joy on TikTok while ensuring a safe experience for them," TikTok said. TikTok said the changes will roll out "in the coming months." For the record, TikTok allows anyone over the age of 13 to open an account.