Ages 13-15
For users ages 13-15, the biggest (and most welcome) change is that accounts will automatically be set to “private.” Previously, users had to manually select this privacy setting, meaning if they didn’t, the entire TikTok community (an estimated 2.6 billion users) had access to your child’s content.
By automatically setting younger teenagers up for a private TikTok account, only followers approved by the user will be able to view their videos. The option still exists to turn this privacy setting off, but the change makes it so that the child can learn and understand their virtual presence.
“By engaging them early in their privacy journey, we can enable them to make more deliberate decisions about their online privacy,” the press release stated.
Kids under 16 will no longer be able to post “duet” or “stitch” videos, which use parts of another user’s video to create their own. And, videos created by users under 16 will not be available for download by another user.
This age group is also limited in their commenting options. Rather than allowing “everyone” to be able to comment on their videos, kids under 16 will have the choice between “friends” and “no one.”
Ages 16-17
For kids ages 16-17, there are also new restrictions, though a little different than those for younger teens.
The default setting for creating “duet” and “stitch” videos will automatically be set to “friends only.” Similar to the privacy settings for younger kids, this can be disabled manually within the app.
This age group also has the say in whether or not they allow their videos to be downloaded by other users.
This week’s privacy updates are just one in a series of measures TikTok is taking to protect young users. Other previous updates included restricting direct messaging and the ability to host lifestreams to kids ages 16 and older. Buying, sending, and receiving virtual gifts is now restricted to users 18 and older.
