TikTok Trends – TikTok Sets 60-Minute Daily Screen Time Limit For Under 18 Users
TikTok is setting a 60-minute daily screen time limit for users who are aged under 18.
Teenagers who reach the new cap will need to enter a passcode to continue using the service that day.
However, they will have the option to reject the new policy, which TikTok claims will be implemented “in the coming weeks”.
The Chinese company ByteDance, which owns the video app, claimed it is introducing the feature to aid users in “staying in control” of their use.
According to TikTok, the new cap was instituted as a result of a prompt it introduced last year to encourage teenagers to limit their screen time. It claimed that this contributed to a 234% increase in the use of our screen time tools.
A weekly notification with a “recap of their screen time” will be sent to anyone under the age of 18 who uses the platform and is at least 13 years old as part of this new feature.
No ‘Right Amount’ Of Screen Time
As soon as the modifications go into effect, affected users will see their new time limit passcode on a screen in their app.
If a user chooses not to participate in the new 60-minute restriction but continues to use the app for 100 minutes per day, TikTok will prompt them to set their own screen time limits.
In addition to being able to set screen time restrictions for their children using the Family Pairing feature of the app, parents will also have access to a dashboard that will break down app usage.
According to TikTok’s head of trust and safety, Cormac Keenan, the new limits were developed in collaboration with researchers.
“While there’s no collectively endorsed position on the ‘right’ amount of screen time, or even the impact of screen time more broadly, we consulted the current academic research and experts from the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital in choosing this limit,” he said.
The screen time restriction was welcomed by TikTok’s detractors, who labelled it as only the “tip of the iceberg” in terms of the platform’s response to the exposure of young users.
‘Crack Cocaine Of Algorithms’
The Center for Countering Digital Hate’s chief executive, Imran Ahmed, recently released research demonstrating how TikTok’s algorithm “bombards” teenagers with offensive material.
He declared that TikTok had triumphed in the battle for the hearts and minds of Americans and Britons between the ages of 14 and 24.
“It’s the crack cocaine of algorithms. It is the most dangerous, the most dangerously addictive, and the one that requires the most immediate attention.”
According to Mr. Ahmed, his center’s research from the end of last year showed that a 13-year-old girl user of TikTok started seeing content about eating disorders and self-harm in her feed minutes after creating an account.
He urged the platform to concentrate its efforts on creating a “safe environment for children” by “cleaning up” feeds of harmful content and reducing screen time.
It occurs as TikTok is embroiled in a fresh debate over its dealings with the Chinese government and the privacy of its users.
Following similar actions in the United States, the Canadian government earlier this week became the most recent to ban the app from government-owned devices.
One of the world’s most popular social media platforms, TikTok announced in September 2021 that it had reached more than one billion active monthly users.
Although it doesn’t disclose the demographics of its users, social media marketers and advertisers see it as a crucial channel for connecting with consumers under the age of 34.
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