TikTok Feature Update Calms Parents

Illustration by TikTok (Pixabay)

JAKARTA - As one of the platforms that is being loved by millions of people, TikTok understands that the application is still far from perfect. Moreover, some videos uploaded to TikTok are considered problematic and dangerous.

To overcome this shortcoming, TikTok presents new security features that can be controlled by parents. Through this feature, parents can control what shows and videos their children can access while playing this application.

Citing The Verge, this feature is referred to as Family Safety Mode. Through this feature, parents will be connected to their child's account through the TikTok application.

"As part of our commitment to provide users with the features and resources to have the best experience on TikTok. We are announcing Family Safety Mode, a new feature to help parents and guardians keep their children safe on TikTok," said Cormac Keenan, Head of Trust. and Safety EMEA via TikTok's official blog, Friday 21 February.

Family Safety Mode features (doc. TikTok Blog)

Through this feature, parents are given the authority by TikTok to monitor access to watched shows on their account. It's just that parents are also asked to download and have a TikTok account to monitor their children's broadcasts.

Not only the Family Safety Mode feature, TikTok also collaborates with influencers in the form of a video campaign reminding its users not to spend long on this platform. Later, TikTok will also limit the age access of its users in watching content in this application.

Because not a few children watch and become TikTok application users. In fact, according to an Ofcom survey in the UK, 13 percent of TikTok users are children aged 12 to 15 years. That figure is up 8 percent from the previous year.

What is included in the Family Safety Mode feature?

1. Restricted mode, automatic filtering, driven by an algorithm that tries to hide potentially inappropriate content.

2. Message control options or personal messages that are limited so that they can only be received from friends or are not active at all.

3. Control time, set the operating limit for how long the child can use the application every day.

Even though it seems to restrict freedom, the application developed by Bytedance does need to provide control to parents over their children's accounts. Moreover, some challenges or challenges that go viral on TikTok are quite dangerous.

Based on BBC data, in its investigation found that children and adolescents in the UK are often motivated to spend their money to support the public figure of TikTok. In return, they can interact with TikTok artists via phone calls or private messages.