Is TikTok safe for kids?

What is TikTok?

TikTok is an app that allows users to post videos of themselves lip-syncing and dancing to their favorite songs. It can be downloaded to both iOS and Android phones and is widely used by young teenagers and adults around the world.

Privacy Concerns

Parents are being warned that the popular TikTok app is being used by predators to target children and teenagers. TikTok has been fined $5.7 million for collecting data on children in the US; including their names, locations, and email addresses.

Predatory Behaviour

A Buzzfeed article outlines the predatory behaviors on TikTok, and discusses how the public and TikTok deal with it:

According to Buzzfeed, young girls on TikTok dance and sing along to their favorite songs, however, these videos are often sexualized by adult users on the site. Users have the ability to remix a video and “duet” with a video posted by another user. Men often “duet” with younger girls, creating videos of a sexual nature.

TikTok works off an algorithm that drives content to users based on their previously watched videos. The app has a “for you” page, which is suggested content tailored to your watch history. This makes it extremely easy for predators to get quick access to the content they want.

Lack of Adequate Monitoring

Users have complained about the lack of Monitoring against predatory and inappropriate behaviors, and have turned to ‘DIY’ ways of patrolling the App.

Our Solution

From our research, it is evident that TikTok is not safe for children. There are serious privacy and safety concerns for children using TikTok.  The most effective way to protect your children from the dangers of this app is to either heavily restrict it, or block it completely.

With DigiFam Home and DigiFam Mobile, you can manage your child’s internet and app usage inside the house and outdoors, so you have total control over what apps they have access to, how long they spend on these apps, and exact time slots they have access to these apps.