BREAKING NEWS: TikTok will limit screen time for users under 18 to 60 minutes a day — and they’ll be asked to enter a passcode to continue watching after the limit is reached
Social media giant TikTok has announced that they are limiting screen time for users under the age of 18 to just 60 minutes a day.
For children, the screen time limit is set automatically and they must enter a passcode to continue watching.
Parents and guardians can use Family Pairing to adjust their daily screen time limit for their children.
This allows them to specify different time limits depending on the day of the week, allowing families to accommodate schedules and holidays.
TikTok did not confirm an exact date for the rollout of the new features, but confirmed it would be “in the coming weeks.”
Parents and guardians can use Family Pairing to adjust their daily screen time limit for their children
They’re also introducing a sleep reminder to help schedule when users want to be offline at night, with a pop-up notification to remind them it’s time to log out
One of the new features is that teens between the ages of 13 and 15 will automatically set their accounts to private, which means that users have to choose what they want to share.
Direct messages are only available to those 16 and older, and you must be at least 18 to host a live video.
A Screen Time dashboard is also being introduced, providing a breakdown of total time spent on the app day and night.
New settings also allow parents to mute notifications from the app for their teens, with users ages 13 to 15 receiving no notifications from 9 p.m. and those ages 16 to 17 from 10 p.m.
Cormac Keenan, Head of Trust and Safety at TikTok, said: “Today we are announcing new features for teens, families and our wider community.
“We believe digital experiences should bring joy and play a positive role in how people express themselves, discover ideas and connect.
“We’re improving our Screen Time tool with more customized options, introducing new teen account defaults and expanding Family Pairing with more parental controls.”
TikTok has not confirmed an exact date for the rollout of the new features, but confirmed it would be ‘in the coming weeks’
New settings also allow parents to mute notifications from the app for their teens, with users aged 13 to 15 receiving no notifications from 9 p.m. and those aged 16 to 17 from 10 p.m.
In a statement, they added that they would send each teen account a weekly inbox notification summarizing their screen time
TikTok executives consulted the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital when choosing the limit.
They also ask teens to set their own daily screen time limit if they opt out of the standard 60-minute time and spend more than 100 minutes on the app each day.
In a statement, they added that they would send each teen account a weekly inbox notification summarizing their screen time.
In addition to rolling out the new features in Family Pairing, the app will also allow anyone using the app to set their own custom time limits for each day.
They’re also introducing a sleep reminder to help schedule when users want to be offline at night, with a pop-up notification to remind them it’s time to log out.
Direct messages are only available to those 16 and older, and you must be at least 18 to host a live video
