Following the addition of content filtering in its platform last year, TikTok has added a new tool called Family Pairing to help parents monitor the videos their children are watching.

To adapt this feature for Family Pairing, TikTok engaged with experts, including the Family Online Safety Institute, on how to strike a balance between enabling families to choose the best experience for their needs while also ensuring respect for young people’s rights to participate in the online world. 

By default, teens can view the keywords their parents has added and TikTok believes this transparency can also help to prompt conversations about online boundaries and safety. The added keywords will be a personalized layer on top of TikTok’s Content Levels system, which aims to keep content with more mature or complex themes from reaching audiences between ages 13 and 17.

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Forming TikTok’s Youth Council

Later this year TikTok will launch the global Youth Council, where it will listen to the experiences of those who directly use the platform and be better positioned to make changes to create the safest possible experience for its community.

TikTok is already working to engage with teens and act based on their feedback. For example, within Family Pairing, TikTok provides tips for parents that it developed in collaboration with teens. These outline the support teens would like and their suggestions on how to approach conversations about digital literacy and safety. 

TikTok engages regularly with more than 50 academics and leading experts from around the world through the Content and Safety Advisory Councils, this new Youth Council will provide a more structured and regular opportunity for youth to provide their views. TikTok is looking forward to sharing more in the coming months about this forum and how teens can take part.