Today, the Federal Trade Commission announced a settlement agreement related to musical.ly, Inc. It’s our priority to create a safe and welcoming experience for all of our users, and as we developed the global TikTok platform, we’ve been committed to creating measures to further protect our user community – including tools for parents to protect their teens and for users to enable additional privacy settings. While we’ve always seen TikTok as a place for everyone, we understand the concerns that arise around younger users. In working with the FTC and in conjunction with today’s agreement, we’ve now implemented changes to accommodate younger US users in a limited, separate app experience that introduces additional safety and privacy protections designed specifically for this audience.

We have always worked to provide our users with the best possible platform to foster their creativity. Beginning today, this additional app experience now allows us to split users into age-appropriate TikTok environments, in line with FTC guidance for mixed audience apps. The new environment for younger users does not permit the sharing of personal information, and it puts extensive limitations on content and user interaction. Both current and new TikTok users will be directed to the age-appropriate app experience, beginning today.

From viral videos to tender moments, TikTok allows users from all walks of life to be their authentic selves while delighting in spontaneous humor and global trends. In the younger ecosystem, users cannot do things like share their videos on TikTok, comment on others' videos, message with users, or maintain a profile or followers. However, they will be able to experience what TikTok is at its core – showcasing creativity – as they enjoy curated content and experiment with TikTok’s unique, fanciful, and expressive features.

We care deeply about the safety and privacy of our users. This is an ongoing commitment, and we are continuing to expand and evolve our protective measures in support of this. We’re also working to bring our privacy and safety settings front and center for our users, such as in our Safety Center and in the video tutorial series we launched today in the TikTok app. Titled “You’re In Control,” the short-form video series guides users through our community guidelines, privacy settings, digital wellbeing tools, and more – and we’ll continue to roll out additional educational material alongside our protections as we work toward maintaining a positive, supportive TikTok community.