The social network is testing the possibility of preventing its users under the age of 18 from being able to view live broadcasts on its platform.
You may soon have to be of legal age to be able to watch live broadcasts on TikTok. The platform would indeed be testing a new option to restrict the broadcast of Live only to users over the age of 18. In any case, this is what the screenshots published by Watchful.ai, a competitive intelligence platform, suggest. We can thus see in the Live broadcast settings panel, a new option to indicate that the content is intended for an adult audience.
Once enabled, an alert will appear stating that the content is restricted to users over 18 only. TikTok also indicates that it will be removed from the platform if it does not comply with its terms of use, in particular in the event that the LiveStream is used to broadcast violent content, including nudity or showing sexual intercourse.
A solution to better target users
This new option would therefore not be offered with the aim of competing with another platform (OnlyFans, in particular), but rather to prevent young audiences from having access to content inappropriate for their age. A few months ago, TikTok revealed its intention to find a solution to find out whether the content published on its platform was appropriate for a young audience or an adult audience. At the time, the platform explained that it was developing a system capable of automatically identifying and restricting certain types of content. It also considered asking creators directly to indicate explicitly when their content was more appropriate for an adult audience.
“We’ve heard directly from our creators that sometimes they have a desire to only reach a specific older audience. For example, perhaps they create a comedy with humor aimed at adults or offer boring workplace advice that is only for adults. Or maybe they’re talking about very difficult life experiences […] So given these varieties of topics, we’re testing ways to help better empower creators to reach the intended audience for their specific content. “, had then declared Tracy Elizabeth, the person in charge of the safety of minors on TikTok in the United States.
For the time being, no other details concerning a possible deployment of this option have leaked. Nevertheless, even if the platform were to adopt it, it will not be enough to protect the youngest from all the potentially shocking content that may be published on the service. It will be imperative that the parents of young users consider the options offered by the parental control system that TikTok has already reinforced on several occasions.
Source :
TechCrunch