TikTok is making an effort to reduce screen time for younger users.
The cultural conversation around the controversial social media app has led to a number of collective restrictions in the last few years. Universities in the US have taken steps to ban the app from campuses, and motions to restrict TikTok have made progress at the national level; Legislation was introduced last week to take steps to ban the app over security concerns.
On Wednesday, TikTok made headlines for a new screen time rule. The app will automatically set a one-hour screen time limit for teenagers. According to CNN, users under 18 will have the option to turn this feature off.
The social media app issued a statement on the matter. According to its press release, TikTok says, “While there is no collectively-endorsed position on the ‘right’ amount of screen time, or even the impact of screen time more broadly, we consulted the current academic research and experts from the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston’s Children’s Hospital in choosing this limit…”
Inside The TikTok Crackdown At The University Level
In December, The Blast took a look at two universities that made an effort to ban TikTok from their campuses.
Both students and staff at The University of Oklahoma and Alabama’s Auburn University were no longer permitted to use the app in early December; Oklahoma governer, Kevin Stitt, signed an executive order banning TikTok on December 8th.
Our report states Stitt’s executive order bans “state government agencies, employees and contractors on government networks or government-issued devices” from using the app. Multiple types of electronic devices issued by the state apply to the ban, which was effective immediately on December 20th.
Alabama governor Kay Ivey also instated a university ban on the app for Auburn.
Ivey’s efforts were to reduce the threat of “sensitive information” of users making its way to the Chinese government; the recent aforementioned US government legislation centers around the same concern.
“Protecting the state of Alabama and our citizens’ right to privacy is a must,” Ivey said, per our report. “and I surely don’t take a security threat from China lightly,” she continued in a December 12th memo to state legislatures.
The ban applies to state-issued devices as well, and also encouraged users to remove the app from their personal devices.
Government Legislation Introduced At The National Level Aims To Protect Against Security Threats
According to a CNN report from March 1st, the aforementioned national level legislation “requires President Joe Biden to impose penalties” against TikTok and its parent company ByteDance, “up to and potentially including a ban, if the administration determines they may have knowingly transferred TikTok user data to ‘any foreign person’ working for or under the influence of the Chinese government.”
The legislation was advanced by Foreign Affairs committee chairman, Michael McCaul.
The legislation would allow the President to impose a ban under the guise of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, also known as IEEPA, the outlet also reported.
TikTok Is Set To Impose A Screen Time Limit For Teenage Users
In the meantime, TikTok has taken initiative to make an effort to curb the issue of screen time for teenagers.
In addition to having the option to turn off the new feature, which will soon become the default setting for accounts for those under 18, users have to interact with the app if they exceed the screentime limit.
CNN reports teens will be given a passcode in the event they exceed one hour of use. From there, they will have to inform the app they are still active.
User feedback began rolling out on social media once the news was announced.
On CNN’s Twitter thread pertaining to the announcement, some users were skeptical of the stipulation generating success.
“Trust me, these kids are smart enough to find a way to bypass this hourly time limit,” one user responded.
“So now you’re gonna get kids under 18 saying they’re over 18 just by switching the year,” another reasoned.
“So people will just start creating multiple accounts and then their numbers will be skewed by more people supposedly using the app,” another user speculated via NBC News’ Twitter thread on the story.
Some users were all for the app’s effort to implement restrictions for younger users’ well-being.
“TikTok finna ban all users under the age of 18,” one Twitter user said. “every app need to do that honestly.”
“this is a good step (likely forced by the govt tbh) but kids will 100% be entering their ‘watch more BS passcode’ is [sic] like this,” another user weighed in.
This is a good step (likely forced by the govt tbh)
but kids will 100% be entering their “watch more BS” passcode ls like this pic.twitter.com/wkWueIuHx2
— Jay D. Cartere (@JayCartere) March 1, 2023
TikTok will roll out these changes “in the coming weeks.”
