What is it for and how does it work?

The newly introduced feature aims to help parents reduce the chance of their children being exposed to inappropriate content while using the app. Development of the feature began in March of this year, and TikTok worked with experts, including experts from the Online Family Safety Institute (FOSI), to find a balance between ensuring parental supervision and respecting the participation of minors in online activities.

Explaining how the new feature works, TikTok says, “by default, teens can view keywords that responsible adults have added to the list.” These keywords act as a personalized layer on top of TikTok’s existing content overlay system that helps limit access to questionable content for users aged 13 to 17.

In addition to keyword restrictions, TikTok also announced the creation of a Youth Council that aims to get input from active users of the platform. This dashboard will provide valuable feedback to guide future changes and ensure safe navigation for all app users.

Earlier this year, in March, TikTok rolled out a few more updates to improve user security. These updates included advanced settings to control time spent on the platform, new default settings for teen accounts, and improved features for the Family Couples tool. As part of these changes, the app limits minors’ use to 60 minutes, after which they need a parent code to continue using the app.

TikTok reported positive results after implementing these measures, saying that 75% of teens prefer to stay within the time limit. In addition, the company has found that more than 850,000 families currently use the Family Couples tool to limit their children’s access to content hosted on the platform.