TikTok makes all under-16s' accounts private

KARACHI/ISLAMABAD:

TikTok has changed the default privacy setting for all registered accounts ages 13-15 to private to improve child safety.

TikTok wants its young users to make informed choices about what they share and with whom.

“With a private TikTok account, only someone who the user approves as a follower can view their videos. By engaging them early in their privacy journey, we can enable them to make more deliberate decisions about their online privacy,” TikTok said in a public post on their website.

Additional changes introduced to promote a safe experience for TikTok’s younger users include:

• Tightening the options for commenting on videos created by those ages 13-15. These users can now choose between Friends or No One for their account; the Everyone comment setting is being removed.

• Changing Duet and Stitch settings to now make these features available on content created by users age 16 and over only. For users ages 16-17, the default setting for Duet and Stitch will now be set to Friends.

• Allowing downloads of videos that have been created by users 16 and over only. Other users can decide whether they want to allow downloads of their videos, though for users ages 16-17 the default setting will now be changed to Off unless they decide to enable it.

• Setting "Suggest your account to others" to Off by default for users ages 13-15.

Earlier TikTok restricted direct messaging and hosting live streams to accounts 16 and over and buying, sending, and receiving of virtual gifts to users 18 and over. TikTok also enabled parents and caregivers to set guardrails on their teen’s TikTok experience through Family Pairing features in a previous update.