The social media platform TikTok has implemented some safeguards regarding the screen time of minors on the app. TikTok has over one billion users and teens from all over the world have been consuming the content on the app in large portions of time which is said to not be health for them.
At the beginning of March, the accounts of users under age 18 were automatically set to an hour screen time limit. They still have the option to opt out of the screen time limit but they would have to create a password and change the settings themselves. TikTok consulted experts from the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston’s Children Hospital in order to decide the best time restraint.
“If the 60-minute limit is reached, teens will be prompted to enter a passcode in order to continue watching, requiring them to make an active decision to extend that time,” said Cormac Keen, the Head of Trust and Safety of Tiktok.
Even though this new feature will be limiting the affected users, they’ll have the chance to evaluate their own time and extend the screen time at their discretion.
Users who are 13 or younger are also receiving this new screen time limit however they will not be able to extend the time. Instead, parents are the ones responsible to create a password that will allow them to add 30 minutes of screen time.
Tiktok will be sending weekly notifications to the inbox of teens that will show them their screen time each week. Similar to other apps, this data allows teens to reflect on their usage of the app and can help them reduce the amount of time that they spend on their phone altogether.
Many across the world invluding students here at MLEC will be affected by this new update, bringing changes to their daily lives and routines.
“It a good thing because a lot of teens spend a lot of time on Tiktok, I’m one of those teens and I know I’m going to be mad when I get that limit but I dont think its really effective because they can bypass it by saying they are older than 18,” said sophomore Reahanna Joseph.
While the screen time limit could be beneficial, there are still ways that teens can find loopholes in order to continue using the app.
These limits show TikTok taking a step towards aiding the younger audiences and limiting the time they spend browsing the site. These moves could end the habit of constant scrolling that teens have found themselves falling into.
