Social network Tiktok ramps up privacy controls for teens

Users between 13 and 15 years of age will stop receiving notifications at 9 p.m., while those between 16 and 17 will have notifications disabled by 10 p.m.

Teens using TikTok will no longer receive notifications late in the night, as the short video app company announced on Thursday a range of measures aimed at tightening safety and privacy controls.

The ByteDance-owned social network has grown rapidly around the world, becoming particularly popular among teenagers. However concerns have been raised about its privacy and safety policies in the wake of a number of incidents.

Users between 13 and 15 years of age will stop receiving notifications at 9 p.m., while those between 16 and 17 will have notifications disabled by 10 p.m.

We want to help our younger teens, in particular, develop positive digital habits early on, TikTok’s Alexandra Evans, Head of Child Safety Public Policy, and Aruna Sharma, Global Head of Privacy, said in a statement.

Besides regulating when teens can receive notifications, the company is also tweaking its direct messaging settings to automatically prohibit direct messages to users between 16 and 17. Currently, the social media app does not allow those under 16 to receive direct messages.

To make sure teenage users are more aware of their privacy settings when uploading videos, the company will ask users who will be allowed to watch their videos each time they upload one. They will also be asked if others can download their videos. They will not be able to upload the videos without first selecting who can view and download them.

Other tech giants such as Google, YouTube and Instagram have all recently bolstered defences for teen users, while critics have been urging Facebook to abandon plans for a children’s version of Instagram.

According to market tracker App Annie, TikTok was the world’s most downloaded app last year, overtaking Facebook and its messaging platforms.