Authored by Product Safety

At TikTok, maintaining a safe and positive in-app environment is our utmost priority. Helping people to stay safe while using TikTok is a responsibility we do not take lightly, as we enable over 200 million Indian users to create and interact on our platform by showcasing their creative expression through their videos.

We will soon release the latest update of the TikTok app for iOS and Android, which will offer a wide array of new features, among them enhanced app security features as well as a more personalised experience that allows Indian users to set multiple languages as their default languages.

Apart from this, we are constantly reiterating our commitment to user safety by introducing industry-leading features. We strive to set ourselves apart by offering a full suite of 13 advanced safety features, which are designed to protect our Indian users.

Risk warning tag

TikTok adds the risk warning tag to videos containing potentially dangerous and adventurous activities, such as extreme sports, to warn users not to imitate and engage in potentially dangerous activities.

Restricted mode

Restricted Mode is an optional account setting that will limit the content that may not be appropriate for younger users. The feature is activated via a password, which will be valid for 30 days.

Screen time management

Screen Time Management allows users, including parents, to set up time limits of 40, 60, 90 or 120 minutes. If users reach their screen time limit, they will need to enter a password to continue to use TikTok.

Age gate

Designed to keep underage users out of the platform, TikTok's age gate feature only allows users age 13 years and above to login and create an account on TikTok.

Filter comments

To better empower users, users can also manage comments on the app by filtering words they deem undesirable. Users will be able to choose up to 30 keywords and modify them as they wish, in Hindi and English, which will be filtered out automatically.

TikTok Safety Center

Ensuring online safety is a shared responsibility, and as such, ongoing education for users is paramount. The TikTok Safety Center aims to further educate and empower our users with the right information, guidelines and resources on online safety. Localized in 10 Indian languages (English, Hindi Tamil, Marathi, Bengali, Punjabi, Gujarati, Odia, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam), the Safety Center is a localized website to equip users with product education and protection measures when using TikTok. Apart from guidelines, the Safety Center also links out to two resource pages tackling Anti-Bullying as well as an advisory for the upcoming General Elections.

Other enhanced safety features

Other safety features that give TikTok an edge over other platforms include an in-app suicide prevention page which offers tips and support, enhanced privacy settings, in-app reporting as well as direct access to the app’s Community Guidelines. These guidelines outline what is and isn't allowed to be posted on the app. To address user complaints and legal investigations, apart from an in-app reporting feature, users or law enforcement agents can also directly get in touch with TikTok’s India-based Grievance Officer as well as review the app’s legal policies before filing a law enforcement data request.

Content moderation with a localised approach

As one of the most watched technology companies in the world right now, we are continuously enhancing existing safety measures, harnessing innovation when it comes to content moderation.  With the help of machine learning algorithms, videos can be screened as they are posted, with objectionable content removed even before a user reports it, in some instances. This technology is coupled with a dedicated and growing team, made up of hundreds of human moderators, supporting  Indian languages including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati and more, to manually cross-review tens of thousands of videos and accounts on TikTok. As a testament of our zero tolerance policy on objectionable content, to date, we have removed over 6 million videos that have violated our Terms of Use and Community Guidelines.

App safety updates and our vision for the future

As we grow with the Indian community, TikTok’s main focus is to continue developing state-of-the art safety features to protect younger users and also make everyone’s digital lives easier. A Parental Guardian platform is in the works to enable parents more control over their child’s digital wellbeing options; while another feature called Device Management will allow users to manage their login devices to prevent their accounts from being hacked, along with improved data access and notification controls. **While we’ve seen a lot of progress, our work is never done. In line with our ongoing mission to ensure that creativity flourishes in digital India, we are committed to continuously enhancing our safety features and introducing additional technical and content moderation processes so that we may continue empowering our users to safely and freely bring their imagination to life.