Online safety is paramount in today’s always-on world. As the next generation of internet users come onboard, it is important to understand how one can be safe online. Leading the way in safety is TikTok which has 14 industry-leading safety features to ensure its users can create unique and meaningful content in a safe and positive in-app environment.
With over 200 million active users in India on TikTok, the platform believes that user’s online safety is extremely crucial and they are continuously working on adding new features and improving community guidelines for a safe and fun user experience.
Here are five ways that users can have a safer online experience on TikTok:
- Privacy settings: TikTok gives users to control for their privacy. Through this feature, TikTok users can decide who can follow them, who can comment on the videos they post, who can react to the videos that are shared, who they can perform a duet with, and who can send them messages. Furthermore, users can decide if they want their videos to be downloaded or not and can even filter out inappropriate comments.
- Digital well-being: This feature is a combination of two –restricted mode and screen time management. Restricted Mode is an optional account setting on TikTok that automatically filters out any content that might not be appropriate for users. The feature is activated via a password, which is valid for 30 days.
Meanwhile, Screen Time Management allows TikTok users, including parents, to set up time limits of 40, 60, 90 or 120 minutes for using the app. If users reach their screen time limit, they will need to enter a password to continue to use TikTok.
- Device management: TikTok launched the ‘Device Management’ feature earlier this year. The feature enables TikTok users to have complete control of their accounts. Using this feature, users can end sessions or remove their accounts from other devices from within the TikTok app to better manage the safety of their accounts. This feature helps avoid the misuse of user accounts and further helps users to manage their online presence in a wise and safe way and choose the sessions they want to end.
- Filter comments: To better empower users, TikTok introduced the Filter comments feature, that filters words they deem undesirable. TikTok users can choose up to 30 keywords, in Hindi and English, to be filtered out automatically. Users can also modify them at any time.
- Safety Centre: Access to tools and resources that help in education around online safety is also important. TikTok understands this and earlier this year, it launched the Safety Centre a localized website that aims to further educate and empower TikTok users. The Safety Centre has tools and resources that provide the right information and guidelines on online safety to users and how they can have a better experience on the app in their own language. Available in 10 Indian languages (Hindi, Tamil, Marathi, Bengali, Punjabi, Gujarati, Odia, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam).
Safety is a shared responsibility, while apps like TikTok are doing their best in educating users to be the same, by publishing a series of educational videos in both English and Hindi, quizzes and campaigns such as #WaitASecToReflect, at the same time, users need to think before posting content and flag or report any content that breaks the community guidelines.
