The massively popular social media app TikTok has been under pressure on a number of privacy issues with one of them being children’s safety. Now the company is rolling out parental controls with its “Family Safety Mode” in the UK.
TikTok detailed the new feature in a blog post today (via TechCrunch):
As part of our ongoing commitment to providing users with features and resources to have the best experience on TikTok, we are announcing Family Safety Mode, a new feature to help parents and guardians keep their teens safe on TikTok.
To use the feature, parents/guardians will need to have their own TikTok account. Here’s what it enables:
- Family Safety Mode links a parent’s TikTok account to their teen’s and once enabled, they will be able to control Digital Wellbeing features, including:
- Screen Time Management: Control how long their teen can spend on TikTok each day.
- Direct Messages: Limit who can send messages to the connected account or turn off direct messaging completely.
- Restricted Mode: Restrict the appearance of content that may not be appropriate for all audiences.
As noted by TechCrunch these features were already available to TikTok users but Family Safety Mode is the first time parents/guardians are able to control them. It isn’t known how well the feature works yet but TC highlights that parents shouldn’t controls like Restricted Mode to be perfect.
Parents should be aware, then, that restricted mode is not going to be a foolproof means of controlling the user experience.
TikTok also highlighted its safety videos that launched last fall and the TikTok Tips account.
With GPDR being the strongest set of privacy laws in the world, it makes sense that TikTok rolled out the new parental controls there first. The company says it will launch Family Safety Mode to more countries over time but didn’t share specifics.
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