TikTok users who are between the ages of 13 and 15 will now have their accounts automatically switched to private by default.
With a private account, only someone who the user approves as a follower can view their videos. These users can now choose to receive comments from ‘Friends’ or ‘No One’ for their accounts. The ‘Everyone’ comment setting has been removed.
“We want our younger users to be able to make informed choices about what and with whom they choose to share, which includes whether they want to open their account to public views,” TikTok outlined in an emailed press release.
TikTok is also changing the settings for its ‘Duet’ and ‘Stitch’ features, as they will now only be available on content created by users 16 and over only. The default setting for Duet and Stitch will now be set to Friends for users aged 16 to 17.
The platform is also now only allowing downloads of videos that have been created by users 16 and up. Other users can decide if they want to allow downloads of their videos, but the default setting will now be changed to ‘Off’ for users ages 16 to 17 unless they decide to enable it.
TikTok is also changing the ‘Suggest you account to others’ feature off by default for users between the ages of 13 and 15.
“Adjusting TikTok’s default account settings to support stronger user privacy is a meaningful step in our ongoing commitment to keeping our younger users safe,” TikTok notes.
TikTok recently also updated its community guidelines to allow for a safer app experience for users.
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