TikTok sets 60-minute daily screen time limit for under-18s

TikTok is mounting a 60-minute regular surface clip bounds for users who are aged nether 18.

If young radical deed the caller limit, they volition person to participate a passcode to proceed to usage the work that day.

But they volition person the quality to opt retired of the caller measure, which TikTok says volition beryllium rolled retired "in the coming weeks".

The China-owned video app said it is introducing the diagnostic to assistance radical "stay successful control" of their use.

TikTok said the caller bounds comes aft it brought successful a punctual past twelvemonth to promote teens to negociate their surface time. It said this helped "increase the usage of our surface clip tools by 234%".

Users of the level person to beryllium astatine slightest 13, and, arsenic portion of this caller feature, anyone nether the property of 18 volition person a play notification with a "recap of their surface time".

Users affected volition person their caller clip bounds passcode connected a surface successful their app arsenic the changes instrumentality effect.

Anyone who opts retired of the caller 60-minute restriction, but goes connected to usage the app for 100 minutes a day, volition person a punctual from TikTok to acceptable their ain surface clip controls.

Parents of children utilizing the Family Pairing enactment connected the app volition besides beryllium capable to acceptable surface clip limits, arsenic good arsenic entree a dashboard which would springiness a breakdown of app usage.

Cormac Keenan, caput of spot and information astatine TikTok, said the institution had worked with researchers successful processing the caller limits.

"While there's nary collectively endorsed presumption connected the 'right' magnitude of surface time, oregon adjacent the interaction of surface clip much broadly, we consulted the existent world probe and experts from the Digital Wellness Lab astatine Boston Children's Hospital successful choosing this limit," helium said.

Critics of the video app welcomed the surface clip limit, but described it arsenic the "tip of the iceberg" erstwhile it comes to TikTok's effect to young users' vulnerability to the platform.

Imran Ahmed is simply a main enforcement of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, which precocious published probe showing TikTok's algorithm "bombards" teenagers with harmful content.

"TikTok has won the contention for the hearts and minds of 14 to 24-year-olds successful the United States and the United Kingdom," helium said.

"It is the ace cocaine of algorithms. It is the astir addictive, it is the astir unsafe and the 1 that needs to beryllium dealt with astir urgently."

Mr Ahmed told the BBC his centre's probe astatine the extremity of past twelvemonth recovered that wrong minutes of opening a TikTok account, a 13-year-old miss idiosyncratic was receiving eating upset and self-harm contented successful her feed.

He called connected the level to absorption its efforts not conscionable connected curbing surface time, but besides to "clean up" feeds of harmful contented to marque it a "safe situation for children".

It comes arsenic TikTok, which is owned by Chinese tech institution ByteDance, faces renewed contention implicit its narration with the Chinese authorities and extortion of idiosyncratic data.

In September 2021, TikTok said it had deed much than 1 cardinal progressive monthly users, making it 1 of the biggest societal sites successful the world.

It does not merchandise a demographic breakdown of its users, but is viewed by societal media marketers and advertisers arsenic being a cardinal level to scope radical nether the property of 34.