In the coming weeks, every account owned by users under 18 will automatically be set to a daily screen time limit of 60 minutes. And then? There will also be new standard settings for youth accounts and the options for parent-controlled child and youth protection will be expanded.

Screen time limit: Maximum 60 minutes?

For teen users, the idea of ​​being involuntarily kicked out of the app must be terrifying.

It is highly doubtful whether such a feature would be beneficial to TikTok's continued success. That's why TikTok immediately announces that nothing is eaten as hot as it is cooked. Once the limit is reached, teens will be asked to enter a passcode to continue using the app. The time limit is therefore purely voluntary and can be ended at your own discretion. The new feature therefore only has the character of a request.

Users should become aware of how long they have been in the app and make a conscious, active decision to extend this time. If users are under 13 years of age, a limit of 60 minutes will apply in the future. However, it is then up to the parent or guardian to set and enter a passcode to activate an additional 30 minutes of viewing time.

Scientifically based

TikTok relies on scientific findings when determining the time period of 60 minutes.

Although there is no “correct” amount of screen time, current scientific research and experts from the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children's Hospital are cited. After that, being aware of how you spend your time helps you make more conscious decisions. Not really surprising. As a conclusion, TikTok is now asking teens to set a daily screen time if they opt out of the preset 60 minutes and subsequently spend more than a hundred minutes a day on the app.

Invitation to make more conscious decisions

TikTok had already introduced a feature in 2022 that allowed teenagers to manage their screen time. According to our own insights, this has resulted in the use of screen time tools increasing by 234%. Unfortunately, TikTok does not provide any absolute numbers in order to be able to really evaluate this increase and put it in relation to the actual number of users.

In addition, all underage users receive weekly information in their inbox about how much time they have spent on TikTok.

More parental controls

Youth accounts are currently protected by further measures. Accounts of 13-15 year olds are set to private by default. You can therefore decide from a protected position which content you want to share with which group of users. Direct messages are only permitted from the age of 16 and it is not possible for young people to host a live event. Being of legal age is mandatory here.

Child protection via family pairing

On TikTok, parents and guardians have the opportunity to connect their own profile with that of their children: the Family Pairing function.

This function is now expanded to include three features.

  • Custom daily screen times : Daily time in the app can be customized via Family Pairing.
    There is also the option of setting different time limits depending on the day of the week, so that app use can be adapted to everyday teenagers' lives, such as school days, exam periods or vacation trips.
  • Screen Time Dashboard : Going forward, the Screen Time dashboard in Family Pairing will provide insights into the teen's app usage intensity.
    How much time was spent on TikTok? How many times was the app opened? How are the usage phases distributed over the times of day? According to research, teen screen time is one of the most important topics discussed in families. Now factual information should bring more substance to the discussions.
  • Mute notifications : Parents get the ability to control when their teens can and cannot receive notifications. In this way, young users should have undisturbed periods that they can use for other things without being constantly distracted, e.g. B. learn. For users aged 13-15 there will no longer be push notifications from 9:00 p.m. Notifications for profiles aged 16 and 17 are disabled as of 10 p.m.

Response to public criticism

With these new improvements to child and youth protection, TikTok is responding to public criticism. Year-long discussions with the EU Commission ended with the platform's promise to better protect children and young people from hidden advertising. The European consumer association Beuc had previously called for improving the protection of young users from hidden advertising and potentially harmful content.

Consumer advocates criticize TikTok

The video app from the Chinese company Bytedance is becoming increasingly popular in Germany. At the same time, critics repeatedly point out inadequate protection for children and young people. In December 2022, a study by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CDDH) was published, the results of which show that content that glorifies self-harm, eating disorders and even suicide is actively promoted by the app.

“These results are every parent’s nightmare”

Imran Ahmed, Executive Director of CCDH

As part of the study, fictitious TikTok profiles were created, all of which indicated a minimum age of 13, i.e. very young users. Within a very short time, the algorithm played a large number of videos to these profiles, some of which contained disturbing statements.

“Young people’s feeds are bombarded with harmful, upsetting content that, taken as a whole, can have a significant impact on their worldview and their physical and mental health.”

CCDH -TikTok study

The study describes, for example, that the so-called For-You-Pages of the test profiles were full of videos in which radical diets and surgical fat reduction, but also self-harming behavior and even suicide were promoted.

Desire versus reality

Despite all the well-intentioned child protection features, it should be clear to parents that good, trusting communication with their own child about their media use is very important. Almost all functions on TikTok that are intended to protect children and young people can be disabled. And the young target group knows exactly how.

The biggest challenge for parents is, on the one hand, that children and young people can easily publish personal information in videos on TikTok. On the other hand, very young profiles are not shown age-appropriate content and can see or receive corresponding inappropriate comments.

In addition to the technical features that the platform itself already provides, parents should talk to their children about the problematic sides of TikTok and agree on responsible use. Parents should also discuss with their children how they can deal with inappropriate content (e.g. scary, sexualized, politically extreme, factually incorrect content). Children and young people should always know that their parents are accessible and that they can ask them for help.

Source:

TikTok , Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH)
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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )