In the year 2021, TikTok shared it had hit more than one billion active monthly users, making it one of the biggest social sites globally.
As TikTok rolls out news that it is now introducing policy to curb the screen time for users under 18, to 60 minutes. While sharing this, we wanted to also dig deeper on the possible reasons that brought about this policy.
What Is The New Policy?
This Wednesday, the media platform shared the announcement of bringing “changes to help teens manage their time on TikTok. Every account belonging to TikTok users under 18 years old will soon automatically set to a 60-minute daily screen limit” the company said. If they wish to consume more screen time on the platform, they will be prompted to enter a passcode.
What TikTok’s Head Of Trust & Safety Has To Say!
In their defense, Cormac Keenan, TikTok’s head of trust and safety stated the company had gone through the process of consulting researchers and experts at the Digital Wellness Lab, Boston’s Children hospital when deciding on said time limits for teen users.
“While there’s no collectively endorsed position on how much screen time is ‘too much’, or even the impact of screen time more broadly, we recognize that teens typically require extra support as they start to explore the online world independently,”
The head of trust and safety published a blog post.
Additionally, TikTok is introducing several new features to “Family pairing” that will allow parents, guardians and their children to customize safety settings.
Possible Reasons That Prompted the Change in Policy
This decision comes after extreme backlash and scrutiny TikTok has been receiving from lawmakers, parents and health experts over some time. With the emergence of multiple researches and studies claiming to exposing the truth about TikTok’s algorithm.
Imran Ahmed who is the Chief Executive for the Centre for Countering Digital Hate, recently published research stating TikTok’s algorithm “bombards” teenagers with harmful, questionable content. Going so far as to say how it is the most addictive kind of algorithm, is dangerous and needs to be dealt with urgently.
Mr. Ahmed also shared an account of how during the research, they found girls as young as 13-year-old, being exposed to eating disorder and self-harm-oriented content on their feed. Concerns have been made clear to curb screen time while simultaneously making the platform a safer space for children.
Expert’s POV
In recent times, Co-vid 19 has brought rapid digitalization to the world. Common Sense Media, a nonprofit research organization assessed that the pandemic has accelerated screen time, especially media use in children aged 8-12 and teens by 17% from 2019 to 2021. Experts have been stressing about the dire impacts it has shown to have on teen’s mental and physical health. Furthermore, a study led by the University of Queensland’s, Associate Professor Asad Khan stated few words.
“Excess screen time effects can include depression, obesity, poor quality of life, unhealthy diet and decreased physical and cognitive abilities.”
Asad Khan, Assistant Professor University of Queensland
This policy seems to be a lot similar to what Microsoft has been doing to address the concerns of parents and give them more control over their children’s screen time. The onset of this scrutiny has led the social media platform to inform they are working hard to reach to parents and provide assurances of their ongoing efforts to “bring joy and play a positive role in how people express themselves” in a press statement. Do you think other social media platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat & YouTube should follow suit?
