TikTok age restrictions for mature content are on the way, says the company, but it is at an early stage of figuring out exactly how to do it …
TikTok age restrictions
The video sharing app first promised to work on this last fall, with Engadget reporting a somewhat vague update from the company.
TikTok, long known for its eerily precise recommendation algorithm, is working on features that would be able to classify content based on “content maturity and thematic comfort zones,” according to Tracy Elizabeth, TikTok’s global issue policy lead. “When the system is fully launched, content that we’ve identified as containing overtly mature themes could be restricted from teens,” she said during a briefing with reporters. “And for content that has less … mature themes, our community members are going to be able to choose the comfort zones or content maturity that they would prefer to skip or opt into.”
Elizabeth didn’t elaborate on how the company was determining a video’s maturity level, saying the work was in an “innovation phase.” But she said it could eventually resemble the ratings used for film, television and video games. “We know that there’s family-ish content, there’s teen-ish content, there’s adult-ish content,” she said. “What we’d like to do is … say ‘here you go: you can pick for yourself what is that category that you feel most comfortable with.’” She added that parents could also control these preferences for their children via TikTok’s “Family Pairing” settings.
UK age verification plans reintroduced
The BBC reports that the UK is reintroducing plans for age verification before internet users can view adult content.
The measures, to ensure users are 18 or over, could see people asked to prove they own a credit card or confirm their age via a third-party service.
Sites that fail to act could be fined up to 10% of their global turnover […] As well as being able to fine websites that do not follow the rules, the regulator Ofcom could block them from being accessible in the UK.
The plan was first put forward back in 2017, but dropped in 2019 over both privacy and practicality concerns. Opponents argued that this would effectively create databases of adult website visitors, which would become targets for hackers seeking people to blackmail. It was also pointed out that there would be nothing to stop an under-age teen from sneaking brief access to a parent’s credit card for the couple of minutes it would take to register for access.
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