

The company will send weekly inbox notifications to teen accounts with a screen time recap. TikTok also said Wednesday that it will also begin prompting teens to set a daily screen time limit if they opt out of the 60-minute default. But social media critics say the same algorithms that promote content about a particular sports team, hobby or dance craze can send users down a rabbit hole of harmful content. Social media algorithms work by identifying topics and content of interest to a user, who is then sent more of the same as a way to maximize their time on the site. Instagram, which is owned by Facebook parent Meta, has also faced similar accusations. A report released late last year suggested that TikTok's algorithms are promoting videos about self-harm and eating disorders to vulnerable teens. There have long been concerns about what minors are exposed to on social media and the potential harm it might do. TikTok said it came up with the 60-minute threshold by consulting academic research and experts from the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children's Hospital.


For accounts where the user is under the age of 13, a parent or guardian will have to set or enter an existing passcode to allow 30 minutes of extra viewing time once the initial 60-minute limit is reached. According to the Pew Research Center, about two-third of Americans teens use TikTok.Ĭormac Keenan, head of trust and safety at TikTok said in a blog post Wednesday that when the 60-minute limit is reached, minors will be prompted to enter a passcode and make an "active decision" to keep watching. In the U.S., families have struggled with limiting the amount of time their children spend on the Chinese-owned video sharing app. In 2021, Chinese authorities issued new rules that barred minors from playing online games for only an hour a day and only on Fridays, weekends and public holidays - an effort to curb internet addiction. The update also mirrors gaming rules imposed on minors in China, where TikTok's parent company ByteDance is based. The changes arrive during a period in which there are growing concerns among different governments about the app's security and ability to alter its algorithm to push certain posts. TikTok said Wednesday that every account held by a user under the age of 18 will have a default 60-minute daily screen time limit in the coming weeks. TikTok18 is a good entertainment app for all users around the world.TikTok says that every account held by a user under the age of 18 will have a default 60-minute daily screen time limit.
