Measures aimed at protecting minors are part of a set of modifications implemented by TikTok to its Community Guidelines. But what are they and how do they affect you? These are The 5 changes in TikTok for minors what you should know
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The modifications, which came into effect on March 7, 2022, seek to clarify and define the behaviors and content that will be removed or whose dissemination will be limited. According to TikTok, the objective is to “guarantee well-being”, in addition to reinforcing “its security, trying to offer the community a space to create, connect and enjoy entertainment”.
Why these changes?
TikTok, which announced the adjustments in February 2022, assured that the changes to your rules They seek to promote a “safe and welcoming” environment for all users, for which the guidelines and behaviors that can be reported or denounced are defined with greater precision.
“These policies are designed to foster an experience that prioritizes safety, inclusion and authenticity and take into account new trends or threats observed on the internet and on the platform,” said the Chinese social network.
In addition, it considered the recommendations of the European Security Advisory Council, experts in digital security, content moderation, health and well-being, and adolescent development.
However, the announcement comes as the Chinese-origin app has come under extensive scrutiny in the United States and Europe for promoting dangerous behavior among teens, challenges similar to those faced by Instagram years ago.
What are the main changes
Although the changes point in multiple directions, among the most relevant are those aimed at protecting minors. Although it maintained 13 years as the floor to open an account, it established additional restrictions for those under 18. Among these measures, the following stand out:
- Posts by children under 16 are no longer recommended in the section For you.
- Those under the age of 16 cannot access direct messages or post live content.
- Those under the age of 18 may not send or receive gifts through platform features.
- Cosmetic surgery (such as “before and after” videos or videos that do not warn of risks) will not be included in the channel For you of users under the age of 18.
- TikTok could exclude dangerous challenges or extreme sports performed by non-professionals from the recommendations for minors.
The regulations also warn that all content that shows situations of abuse against minors or that puts their safety at risk, will be removed from the platform and will send complaints to the competent authorities.
The measures are added to those implemented in September 2021, and which established that:
- Only friends of those under the age of 16 can see their posts.
- Only friends of those under the age of 16 can comment on their posts.
- Videos of those under 16 years of age cannot be downloaded.
- Those under the age of 16 cannot use the duets feature.
- User accounts under the age of 16 are not recommended.
Other modifications in TikTok
TikTok also implemented platform-wide tweaks, including:
- Highly sexualized posts (implied nudity or striptease).
- Material that may cause “discomfort, shock or disgust” among users.
- Content that misleads or manipulates for the purpose of inauthenticly increasing follower counts, such as like-to-like.
- Publications that show or represent risky consumption of alcohol or that exhibit the use of tobacco or controlled substances, will be excluded.
- Although TikTok removes material that promotes eating disorders, it will now remove the promotion of unhealthy or disordered eating habits.
- Greater precision on prohibited hate ideologies, which now explicitly include the deadnaming (treating transgender people by the name they used before transitioning), the misgendering (calling a person by a gender other than the one that identifies them) and misogyny, as well as the promotion of conversion therapies.
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