TikTok Changes Default Privacy Settings for Users Under 18

Aimed at driving higher default standards for user privacy and safety, TikTok has today announced changes to the default privacy settings for users under the age of 18. The company is also changing the default privacy setting for all registered accounts ages 13-15 to private.

TikTok

With a private TikTok account, only someone who the user approves as a follower can view their videos. “We want our younger users to be able to make informed choices about what and with whom they choose to share,” notes the company in a news release.

By engaging youngsters early in their privacy journey, TikTok believes it can enable them to make more deliberate decisions about their online privacy.

Additional changes being rolled out include:

  • Tightening the options for commenting on videos created by those ages 13-15.
  • Changing Duet and Stitch settings to now make these features available on content created by users age 16 and over only. 
  • Allowing downloads of videos that have been created by users 16 and over only. Other users can decide whether they want to allow downloads of their videos or not.
  • Setting “Suggest your account to others” to Off by default for users ages 13-15.

TikTok has already restricted direct messaging and hosting live streams to accounts 16 and over.

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