TikTok, one of the most popular social networks among young people, began a new privacy policy on Wednesday (13) to increase safety for minors using the platform.
From now on, all user accounts between the ages of 13 and 15 are private, which means that they can only be seen by authorized people. In addition, the number of people who can comment on videos from accounts of people up to 16 years old is limited to friends only, and video downloading is only allowed to users over that age.
Other items are still allowed but are not in the default settings so young people will have to decide to change. This is the case with the “Propose the account to other users” option, which consists of making the platform’s videos visible.
“We want our youngest developers to be able to make informed decisions about what and with whom to share, including deciding whether to open their accounts to the public,” said Tracy Elizabeth, global political director, in a statement . TikTok Minor Security.
Previously, TikTok had already made changes to underage accounts to restrict direct messages and allow life for accounts under the age of 16. A resource has also been created that parents can monitor child accounts.
The Chinese application that can make short videos has been highlighted over the past year with adding millions of users and being the center of controversy. The President of the United States, Donald Trump, wanted to ban TikTok from the country because of an alleged risk of a national security threat.
The platform now has more than 800 million users, second only to Instagram and Facebook.