What is the minimum age for TikTok?: TikTok App Security: What Parents Need To Know

13 is the minimum age according to the TikTok terms and conditions.

How does TikTok work?: TikTok App Security: What Parents Need To Know

Once you have signed up and logged in, you can search for popular categories, creators, or find people through your friend’s contact list, or you can create the videos yourself. But many people only use the app to follow content creators.

How to create an account

Click on the ‘person’ icon and you can choose to sign up with an email, phone number, or an existing Google, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram account.

Once you have selected an option, you will be asked to enter your date of birth, if you are under 13 years old, the application displays the following message: “Sorry, it seems you are not eligible for TikTok. But thanks for stopping by! ”

Your feed highlights what’s happening in your community and a separate ‘For You’ feed shows personalized recommendations for you.

Why do teens love TikTok?

It’s a way of expressing yourself and creating short-form video clips to gain a following and build a community around your passions. It also features some cool special effects that users can apply to their videos to make them more unique. You can also post content on other platforms (like Instagram) to share it with more people.

What do parents say about the app?

View inappropriate content

Parents have raised concerns about inappropriate language in some of the posted videos, which may make this less suitable for younger children.

Contact of strangers

Predators looking to connect with children is another risk parents have told their children. You can find a parental review on Common Sense Media.

What should parents worry about?

When you download the application, users can view all the content without creating an account, although they cannot post, like or share anything until they have set up an account in the application.

You can set up your account using your existing Google, Facebook, Instagram account, by email or by phone.

By default all accounts are public so that anyone in the application can see what your child shares. However, only approved followers can message them.

Users can like or react to a video, follow an account or send messages to each other, so there is a risk that strangers will be able to contact children directly in the application

Kids can be tempted to take chances to get more followers or likes on a video, so it’s important to talk about what they share and with whom.

Do you need to delete your account? Head to  Me> tap to find … located in the upper right corner> Tap Manage account  >  Delete account . Follow the instructions in the application to delete your account.

TikTok said: “Today’s announcement is about taking another step to implement stronger proactive protections to keep the youngest members of our community safe.

We look forward to feedback from our community and all of our stakeholders as we constantly improve with new features and resources to help our community manage their TikTok experience. ”

Does TikTok have any security features?

Digital Wellbeing
Like Facebook and Instagram, it has an element of digital wellbeing(which is password protected) that alerts users who have been in the application for more than two hours. You can also activate “restricted mode” to filter inappropriate content in the application.

Private account
You can set an account to be privateso that all videos can only be viewed by the creator and no one else on the platform. With a private account, you can approve or deny users and limit incoming messages to followers only.
Please note that even with a private account, your child’s profile photo, username, and bio are still visible to all users of the platform. You can manage who can comment, duet and direct message your child in the app.

Privacy Settings
TikTok users under the age of 18 will have their accounts set to private by default, which means that only someone the user approves as a follower can view their videos. The change is part of a broader package of measures designed to drive higher standards of user privacy and security. Download the updated privacy settings here .

Carolyn Bunting, CEO of Internet Matters, adds : “The safety of children and youth online must be a priority for industry organizations.

Disabling direct messaging on the TikTok platform for those under 16 is a significant move to prioritize the safety of its young users and we are pleased to see that the protection of its younger users takes priority in its product changes.

TikTok provides fantastic opportunities to be creative and have fun, especially in these unprecedented times, and it is encouraging to see them invest in a number of initiatives that help create a safer environment for young people. ”

Check out our TikTok Privacy and Security Parental Controls for more information.

Latest TikTok updates

At the end of 2019, the following features were rolled out globally:

Live broadcast: The minimum age limit to host a live broadcast will remain 16.

Additionally, users who want to use the live streaming feature will need to have a history of creating quality content that follows TikTok. Community Guidelines. Users who want to go live will need to have a certain number of fans before they can use this feature.

As of April 16, 2020, the following features have been implemented:

• Family Pairing (formerly Family Safe Mode): TikTok’s new Family Safe Mode, rolling out globally in the coming weeks, is an in-app feature designed for parents to help keep their children safe while using TikTok.
• Changes to the virtual gifts policy : The new policy will only allow those over 18 to buy, send or receive virtual gifts – read moreHere.
• You’re in the Control Education series: TikTok continues this series to help TikTok users understand how they can filter comments, choose a private account, restrict duets, andmuch more.
• Opening of a trust and security center in Dublin: TheTrust and Safety Center is designed to strengthen TikTok’s policies, technologies, and strategies.
• Voluntary Principles: With the support of the Five Eyes nations worldwide, to counter child exploitation online. read morehere.
• Direct Messaging Changes:   Now, only those 16 and older will be able to send and receive direct messages.

As of January 2021, the following features were implemented:

• New privacy settings: TikTok users under the age of 18 will have their accounts set to private by default (as of January 2021) as mentioned above.
• Addressing fake news and misinformation: A new fact-checking feature that will confirm and remove content if it’s fake (as of February 2021) . read moreHere.
• Bullying prevention feature: Creators can now control which comments can be posted on their content before it is published. Additionally, users who comment will receive a message instructing them to reconsider their comment if it is inappropriate. (as of March 2021) . read moreHere.
• Adjust options for commenting on videos created by 13-15 year olds:  Younger users can now choose between “friends” or “no one”, and the “everyone” comment setting will be removed.
• Changing Duet and Stitch settings: The wider TikTok community will not be able to use those features with content created by people under the age of 16, although anyone can Duet and Stitch with eligible content from users over 16 years of age. For 16-17 year old users, the default setting for these roles will now be set to Friends.
• Removing the ability to download videos created by those under 16 years:  For users 16 to 17 years, this feature will now be disabled by default, with the option to allow downloading of videos if the user so wishes.
• Set “suggest your account to others” to “off” by default for 13-15 year old accounts.

How to report inappropriate content on the TikTok app?

You can report contentthat does not follow TikTok Community Guidelines within the app, click here to learn how to do it in the app.

Can block followers‘by choosing the fan you want to remove and selecting’ Block ‘from the options menu.

Make sure to update the TikTok app to make sure you’re up to date with the latest features.