TikTok removes over 7 million minor accounts

TikTok removes over 7 million minor accounts

June 30, 2021 – 9:40 PM

TikTok, the popular short-video social media platform among teens, said it deleted more than 7 million accounts belonging to children under 13 in the first trimester, making a significant milestone in the market. application of the required age of application users.

Of more than 11.1 million accounts deleted for violating app guidelines, 7.26 million were from users suspected of not meeting age limits, the company said in an article. blog post on Wednesday. This was the first time TikTok published the number of miner accounts it deleted.

In the United States, websites are required to obtain parental consent before collecting data on children under 13, in accordance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. But many kids rig their age and still create accounts on social media sites, from Instagram to YouTube.

TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance Ltd., has come under special scrutiny due to the large amount of data collected by its sophisticated algorithm and its popularity, especially among young people. Last year, The New York Times reported that TikTok classified more than a third of its daily users in the United States as being 14 or younger.

In 2019, TikTok was forced to pay the United States Federal Trade Commission a record fine of $ 5.7 million for illegally collecting data on children, including names, email addresses and the location of children who have used the app.

Since then, TikTok has adjusted several features to make the platform safer for its fans. About two years ago, it launched a dedicated app section for kids ages 12 and under called TikTok for younger users. The space offers “an organized viewing experience with added safeguards and privacy protections,” according to the company. The siled part of the application does not allow the sharing of personal information, imposes limits on the content displayed, and also does not allow its users to post videos or comments.

Other age-appropriate changes include a new default privacy setting for accounts aged 13-15, launched in January, which requires teenage users to approve subscribers to view their videos. Last August, the company also introduced a new family pairing setting to allow parents to monitor and control their children’s screen time on the app.

In addition to deleting accounts, TikTok also continuously monitors posted content. Wednesday’s report found that in the first three months of the year 8.54 million videos were deleted in the United States alone. Of those deleted, 36.8% were for “minor security” reasons, 21.1% for involvement in illegal activities and 15.6% for policy violations.

TikTok said that from this report, it will begin publishing its information related to the application of the community guidelines on a quarterly basis.

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