China: TikTok has announced that the company will set a default 60-minute daily time limit for all accounts held by under-18s and is developing a tool to allow parents to prevent their children from viewing content containing certain words or hashtags.

The changes come as the company looks to shore up its public image amid concerns among different governments around the world about the app’s security and ability to alter its algorithm to push certain posts.

Mr. Cormac Keenan, head of trust and safety at TikTok, stated in a blog post that when the 60-minute limit is reached, children and teenagers will be prompted to enter a passcode and make an “active decision” to keep watching.

According to the statement, for accounts where the user is under the age of 13, a parent or guardian will have to set or enter an existing passcode to allow 30 minutes of extra viewing time once the initial 60-minute limit is reached.

TikTok remarked that it came up with the 60-minute threshold by consulting academic research and experts from the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital.

The company further added that the parental control feature, which is in its early stages, would be developed and designed in consultation with parenting, youth, and civil society organisations.

The new feature is introduced as a response to concerns about what young people are exposed to on social media and the potential harm it might do.

According to a report released in 2022, TikTok’s algorithms are promoting videos about self-harm and eating disorders to vulnerable teens. Instagram, which is owned by Facebook parent Meta, has also faced similar accusations.

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