TikTok, new protection measures for minors

TikTok, in a commitment to create a safe environment in which to express themselves freely especially for its younger users, announces the introduction of new proactive protection measures aimed at users between 13 and 17 years old. A note communicates it. The new features include new changes to the direct messaging settings so that, for new users aged 16-17, the default Direct Messaging setting is ‘None’. To send messages to others, users of this age group will have to voluntarily activate a different sharing option. Pre-existing profiles who have never used Direct Messages before will receive a warning asking you to review and confirm their privacy settings when using the feature. Additionally, after making their first TikTok, under-16s will be asked to proactively decide whether they want to make their videos visible to their followers, only friends, or only themselves before they can post. In addition, the social platform continues, with the aim of developing positive ‘digital habits’, the period of time during which children under 18 receive push notifications has been reduced. The profiles of users between 13 and 15 years, in fact, will no longer receive automatic notifications starting from 21, while for 16-17 year olds the function will be disabled starting from 22. “The new measures announced today and designed to promote a safe and age-appropriate experience – the TikTok note specifies – will be made available gradually around the world in the coming months. These are in addition to the additional tools and policies previously introduced to protect the accounts of adolescent users such as the private setting default of all accounts belonging to children under 16 and having disabled direct messaging for users aged 13 to 15 “.