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TikTok says it will implement an automatic 1- hour screen-time limit for all users under the age of 18.
Cormac Keenan, TikTok’s Head of Trust and Safety, shared the update on Wednesday through the company’s official Newsroom. According to Keenan, TikTok believes “digital experiences should bring joy and play a positive role in how people express themselves …With that in mind, TikTok is striving to improve its “screen time tool with more custom options.”
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThis will include “new default settings for teen accounts, and expanding Family Pairing with more parental controls.” The company’s first initiative is to “help teens manage their time on TikTok.”
To do this, every account belonging to a user under 18 will automatically be set to a “60-minute daily screen time limit.”If a user reaches the 60-minute time limit, they will be prompted to “enter a passcode in order to continue watching.”
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Keenan further explains that this action requires teenagers to “make an active decision to extend” their time on the app. Additionally, the company believes the initiative will force users to be more intentional with the time they do spend on the app.
The new initiative will also send “every teen account a weekly in-box notification with a recap of their screen time”. The change is expected to take place in the next few weeks.
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TikTok is also adding three new features to Family Pairing, a feature they unveiled in 2020, with the hope to “empower families.” The updates will include custom daily time limits, which can be set by caregivers and will allow families the ability to “match screen time to school schedules, holiday breaks, or family travel.”
