TikTok have recently taken steps to tighten up parental controls. This is a positive move to help reduce overexposure to the app. An Ofgem report in March this year stated that 16% of toddlers use TikTok. As of January there were 3.7 million users of TikTok in the UK.
TikTok launched in 2016 as a way to share short videos of user-created content. The app owned by Beijing-based tech company ByteDance is the international version of the popular Chinese platform Douyin. TikTok quickly rose to global popularity following its acquisition of Musical.ly in 2018. It increased exponentially during the first lockdown in 2020 with viral dance video challenges and reached its peak growth in 2021.
It is largely a fun and harmless app, however, it can be addictive for young people, and expose them to inappropriate content as well as increased risk of user privacy violations. TikTok’s pursuit of data collection doesn’t stop at gathering users’ preference settings, the main source of information and data collection is from the type of content users like and share on the app. TikTok also takes advantage of every access permission you give it, collecting information about the phone’s model, screen resolution, current OS, phone number, email address, location, and even contact list.
Guidelines for TikTok
In order to ensure children’s security on TikTok we recommend some safeguarding tools such as Family Pairing, which allows parents to link their account to their child’s account, limit the time that can be spent on the app each day, restrict content, and limit who can send direct messages. See this guide for more information on how to set up parental controls.
Many of our pupils have accounts. However, we strongly advise that pupils do not do TikToks in their school uniform for their own personal safety, as well as to avoid bringing themselves or the school into disrepute.
Please also note that TikTok requires the user to be at least 13 years old, although there is no age verification that prevents young people from registering under this age.
