TikTok 'family safety mode' gives parents some app control

By ITS Education Asia

ChalkFace likes to report on efforts to make social media apps safer for children, so this article from the BBC caught our attention.

TikTok is introducing a new "family safety mode" designed to give parents tighter control over teens' mobile phone habits.

It will let parents link their own TikTok accounts to their child's - and turn features on and off remotely.

That includes a "restricted mode" that tries to filter out inappropriate content, and turning off messaging.

TikTok has an age limit of 13, but many pre-teens still use the Chinese-owned app.

A recent survey by UK media regulator Ofcom found that TikTok was used by 13% of all children aged 12-15 in 2019 — up from 8% the year before.

This change means the adult's phone can now turn on and off the settings for:

• restricted mode, an automatic filter, driven by an algorithm, which tries to hide content that may be inappropriate
• messages, which can be limited so they can only be received from friends - or turned off completely
• screen time controls, putting a hard limit on how long the app can be used each day

What do you think? Is this a good move for child safety or an unwelcome intrusion on young people’s rights to privacy?