TikTok remains a popular social media platform and below are a series of considerations for safe use of the entertainment platform.

Age restrictions

TikTok is only for users aged 13 and over, with TikTok actively removing underage accounts. You can report underage users in-app, by emailing privacy@tiktok.com or completing an online form.Accounts for users under 16 are set to Private by Default. Only someone the user approves can view or comment on their videos. They cannot Direct Message, their accounts are not suggested to others, and their videos cannot be downloaded. For 16-17s other features have enhanced privacy settings, with many features set to ‘Off’ by default unless the user actively decides to enable it.Users under 18 are not able to Livestream and do not have the ability to access Gifting features.

Managing wellbeing on TikTok

Under 18 accounts are set to private by default with 16-17 accounts having the option to be more Public in their privacy settings. A private account allows you to approve or deny followers and restrict your uploaded content to followers only. To make an account Private:

1. Tap on the Profile tab

2. Go to the 3-line menu in the top right-hand corner 

3. Tap on Settings and Privacy 

4. Select Privacy, then toggle Private account 

TikTok also provides a number of wellbeing features found in Settings and Privacy to support with experience. Some of these features include: screen time limits and prompts, screen time dashboard with notifications of usage each week, filtering keywords to restrict content, sleep reminders and muted notifications for teen accounts at night, and additional digital wellbeing tips

It is possible to keep identity more secure by not including any personal information, such as name, address, phone number or age in your public profile, although this information can be used in your settings to support with security e.g., to enable two-factor authentication. 

What about parental controls?

The Family Pairing feature allows parents to customise their teen’s safety settings based on their individual needs. It allows a parent to link their TikTok account to their teen's and set controls. As well as wellbeing tools, some of the features include:  

1. Screen time management 

2. Restricted mode and keyword filtering

3. Direct messages restrictions 

4. Search restrictions

Parents or caregivers that enable Family Pairing receive advice for parents, which is available on the Guardian's Guide section of TikTok’s Safety Centre.

How do I report a problem?

If you feel someone is harassing you or your teen or otherwise being inappropriate, you can report them or a specific video to TikTok's dedicated moderation team in the app. You can also report via the web form. TikTok also works with Netsafe here in NZ. 

Blocking users on TikTok

You can also block a user so they won't be able to view your videos or interact with you through direct messages, comments, follows, or likes.

1.Go to the profile of the account to report 

2. Tap on the arrow icon

3. Tap block and then follow the steps in the app. 

You can also bulk report, delete or block up to 100 comments or accounts at once by long-pressing on a comment or tapping the pencil icon in the top left-hand corner which opens a window of more options. 

Set messaging preferences

For users 16-17, ’Direct Messaging’ is off by default but can be changed to allow Friends – those who follow you and you follow back, to message users. Direct Messages are off by default for under 16s.You can unfollow or block a user to stop them from sending a direct message or disable messaging entirely from your privacy settings.

Set videos to private

If you've already uploaded the video: Tap the three dots, tap Privacy settings and select Only me. If you're about to post a video you can choose who can watch it: Only Me, Friends or Everyone and you can choose whether comments are allowed. The Everyone option is not available to under 16 accounts. 

Control your comment section

You have the power to decide whether you want to allow comments on videos from everyone, followers only, or restrict them altogether. Using profile settings, you can filter all comments to prevent certain keywords, or pre-approve any comment that appears on your video. 

Limit the content seen

If you don’t like a video, you can simply long-press on that video and tap Not Interested to see less of that sort of content in the future. Users have greater control over their algorithm by being able to use Keyword Filtering along with the ability to refresh their algorithm as if they were a new user. TikTok have also introduced ‘Content Levels’ to rank content based on thematic maturity.

Additional information and support

You can find TikTok's policies, tools and resources in the Safety Centre: tiktok.com/en/safetyYou can also look at TikTok’s safety videos to learn more: @tiktoktips

Information provided from resource created by SWGfL as part of the UK Safer Internet Centre in collaboration with TikTok.