TikTok sets automatic one-hour screen time limit for teens

TikTok mentioned Wednesday it’ll implement an computerized 60-minute screen-time restrict for all customers underneath the age of 18.

When the 60-minute restrict is reached, teenagers will likely be prompted to enter a passcode to proceed watching movies on the social media app, “requiring them to make an active decision” to maintain scrolling, the corporate mentioned.

Teenagers will have the ability to decide out of the characteristic if they need, however TikTok mentioned the app will immediate them to set a restrict in the event that they spend “more than 100 minutes on TikTok in a day.”

TikTok is taking steps to curb display time for its youthful customers because it stares down rising scrutiny from regulators and lawmakers over its safety and the protection of kids on the platform. A examine from the Pew Research Center final August discovered 67% of American youngsters used TikTok, with 16% of all teenagers saying they used it “constantly.”

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will testify earlier than the House Energy and Commerce committee later this month, because the U.S. subsidiary of China-based ByteDance faces each a nationwide safety probe and elevated scrutiny within the wake of successive controversies, together with revelations that staff spied on journalists and accessed U.S. customers’ knowledge.

The social media platform mentioned it’s working arduous to extend outreach to folks as a part of an ongoing effort to “bring joy and play a positive role in how people express themselves,” in line with a press assertion.

“Every teen is different, and so is every family. That’s why we remain focused on reaching parents with the information they need about TikTok,” the corporate’s head of belief and security, Cormac Keenan, mentioned in an announcement.

The firm can also be introducing an choice to mute notifications on a scheduled foundation, a characteristic that the corporate mentioned is already applied to various levels for customers aged 13 to 17.

TikTok’s options are largely in-app implementations of current options for iOS and Android customers. Apple‘s iOS permits customers to set restrictions on app utilization and schedule notification exercise by its Focus mode and Screen Time performance; on Google’s Android working system, customers can management app exercise by the Digital Wellbeing menu.

TikTok mum or dad ByteDance is going through a probe from the Committee on Foreign Investment within the United States, often known as CFIUS, over nationwide safety issues. The probe has been underway for years, since ByteDance acquired Musical.ly in 2017, however has accelerated in each scope and out of doors scrutiny in current months.