TikTok has become the quintessential quarantine application, with permission from the ever-present WhatsApp. In fact, it broke a new record in February with 113 million downloads worldwide, adding the figures from the App Store and Google Play for Android. Currently, it has more than 500 million active users globally and it is quite a phenomenon. In addition, it is a phenomenon not only in young people, since it is increasingly used by people of other ages. However, the social network has announced some restrictions for minors.
TikTok, also known as Douyin in China, is an application originating from that country that was launched in 2016 and merged with musical.ly in 2018. Since then, it has not stopped growing in the number of users and downloads worldwide. Quarantine has triggered its use, although its growth had already come from afar. For all these reasons, those responsible have launched a series of measures to support minors.
TikTok restrictions and prohibitions
We have seen duets on TikTok or videos uploaded from TikTok to Instagram , but many are unaware that there are some restrictions on their use. Cormac Keenan , Head of Trust and Safety of TikTok, has explained the changes that will be made in the use of direct messages, in addition to remembering some other things related to parental control and minors.
For example, they changed their virtual gift policy to allow only those over 18 to buy, send, or receive virtual gifts. They also launched Family Synchronization (formerly Family Safety Mode) to help parents and guardians manage their children’s experience on TikTok. This allows:
- Manage the time our children spend in the application.
- Restrict the content they can see.
- Limit direct messages.
And that leads us directly to the new restriction that will be imposed for those under the age of 16 . As just announced, only those over 16 years old can send and receive direct messages. Anyone affected by this change will receive a notification starting today. On April 30, existing users and new users who do not meet the age requirements for using direct messaging will no longer have access to it.
