TikTok said Tuesday it would allow parents to limit the time their teens spend on the app as the Chinese-owned social network confronts political fallout from rising claims that excessive screen time is damaging adolescents’ mental health.
The feature, set for immediate launch in the EU with the US to follow later, allows parents to set time limits or establish time windows for being on TikTok, the company said in a statement on its website.
TikTok’s update follows in the footsteps of competitor Instagram, owned by Facebook parent company Meta, which launched a similar feature several months ago.
There will be no way to get around TikTok’s “Time Away” block without the adult parent deactivating it from their own account.
TikTok, which boasts more than one billion users worldwide for its short videos, said that in the coming weeks it would enable parents to see whom their teen children are following on the network, as well as who is following them and whom they have blocked.
And under-16s will be offered a “Meditation” function after 10pm suggesting relaxation exercises accompanied by calming music — although this feature can be switched off by the teen.
TikTok’s changes come as it is under scrutiny across the EU and further afield for its impact on teens and for its potential use to interfere in elections.
France’s parliament is expected to launch an inquiry this week into the video app’s psychological impact on children.
And Albania is expected to ban TikTok for at least a year following a deadly brawl between teenagers apparently triggered by an online spat.
TikTok told journalists in Paris Tuesday that it employs more than 6,000 moderators to vet content in European languages alone.
“That’s more than all the other platforms put together,” a spokesman said.
He added that moderators had in July-September removed more than 24 million accounts believed to belong to users under TikTok’s age threshold of 13.
TikTok says it removes more than 95 percent of inappropriate content within 24 hours, and 90 percent before it has been watched even once.
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