TikTok on Wednesday announced several updates aimed at helping users customize their viewing preferences and filter out content that might be problematic or too mature for young users, amid renewed scrutiny of the potential harm social media poses to users. teenagers.
The short-form video app is enhancing its viewing experience so that users watch less videos on topics that “can be good as a single video but potentially problematic if viewed repeatedly“, according to Cormac Keenan, the company’s head of trust and security. Keenan cited topics related to diet, extreme fitness, and grief as examples of this content. (TikTok’s rival Instagram has also tried to stop teens from viewing certain weight-loss products.)
TikTok also said it is rolling out a new system that organizes content based on thematic maturity, not unlike the rating systems used in film and television. The new safeguards will assign a “maturity score” to videos detected as potentially containing mature or complex themes. The goal, according to Keenan, is “help prevent content with overtly mature themes from reaching audiences aged between 13 and 17“.
Senators quizzed TikTok, YouTube and Snap executives late last year about the steps their platforms were taking to protect teens online after a Facebook whistleblower renewed concerns about the impact social media platforms have on their users. younger.
Additionally, a coalition of state attorneys general launched an investigation earlier this year specifically into the impact of TikTok on young Americans. In a statement at the time, TikTok said it limits its resources by age, provides tools and resources for parents, and designs its policies with the well-being of young people in mind.
In the blog post on Wednesday, Keenen said the company is “focused on further protecting the teen experience” and will add new functionality to provide more detailed content filtering options in the coming weeks.
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