TikTok Expands For-Adult Controls To Hide Content From Users Under 18

People of all walks of life have played with a TikTok filter at some point. Given its sweeping impact across age groups, the social network has to take accountability for the type of content being shown to impressionable viewers.

In October, TikTok introduced adults-only settings for livestreamed content. Now, it’s expanding the feature to short-form videos, enabling controls for the majority of its posts. The rollout aims to amplify safety for teens, who form a significant portion of TikTok’s user base.

TikTok says users should be able to access the feature over the coming weeks.

The app emphasizes that, as with livestream restrictions, the 18+ label isn’t for marking content with nudity, which continues to be banned on the site.

“To be clear: our policies still fully apply to creators who use this feature, and we will remove content which contains nudity and other violations of our Community Guidelines,” the company stresses in a blog post.

TikTok foresees the setting being toggled on for non-sexual, non-violent videos better suited for audiences over the age of 18, such as expletive-filled comedy or accounts of difficult life experiences that could be triggering for teens. Creators opening up about a challenging time may also feel more comfortable knowing that the conversation is only open to adults.

Elsewhere, creators may wish to use the feature for short-form videos they deem uninteresting for younger users.

TikTok’s community guidelines state that users must be at least 13 years old in order to join the platform, though that hasn’t stopped younger children before, and it likely won’t in the future.

In 2022, the website was sued by parents after the deaths of an eight-year-old and nine-year-old—among many others—who attempted the ‘Blackout Challenge’ made popular by the social media app. The trend saw participants hold their breaths to cut off oxygen to the brain in order to pass out.

In this latest edition of safety features, TikTok also says it has improved its borderline suggestive model, which automatically identifies sexually-suggestive content.

“We want everyone to feel safe and comfortable when they spend time on TikTok. We’ve always had strict policies prohibiting nudity, sexual activity, and sexually explicit content, including content that directs to adult websites or apps,” explains the site. It adds that more than 40,000 trust and safety professionals have contributed into the implementation of TikTok’s safety policies and technologies.

Last month, TikTok joined Meta, Facebook, and Bumble in fighting the sharing of revenge porn through artificial-intelligence tools that block personal pictures from being circulated without victims’ knowledge.

[via TechCrunch and Tech Nova, cover illustration 256781005 © Valerii Minhirov | Dreamstime.com]