Ajit Karn
TikTok announced on Wednesday that it is developing a tool that will allow parents to restrict their children’s access to content containing certain words or hashtags on the short-form video app, in an effort to improve the company’s image.
TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese technology company ByteDance, is the subject of renewed global scrutiny regarding its proximity to the Chinese government and preservation of user data.
Due to security concerns, the extremely popular app among younger users has been banned from government-owned phones in the United States, Canada, and other countries.
As with other social media applications, TikTok has been criticised for failing to adequately protect adolescents from inappropriate content.
TikTok stated that the parental control feature is in its early phases of development and that the app will consult with parenthood, youth, and civil society organisations in designing the tool.
It also announced new features to assist users in limiting their app usage time. TikTok stated in a blog post that accounts belonging to users under the age of 18 will have a daily time limit of one hour and will require a passcode to continue using the app.
If teenagers choose to eliminate the daily limit and use TikTok for more than 100 minutes per day, the app will prompt them to set time limits by displaying a prompt.
The company announced that parents will now be able to limit their children’s TikTok utilisation based on the day of the week.
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In the meantime, the US House Foreign Affairs Committee voted along party lines on Wednesday to grant President Joe Biden the authority to ban the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok, representing the latest setback for the popular video-sharing website.
By a vote of 24 to 16, lawmakers approved the measure to grant the administration new authority to ban the app owned by ByteDance, which is used by over 100 million Americans, and other apps deemed security hazards.
