TikTok is testing out a rating system that blocks mature videos from kids' feeds.- The backend filters won't be directly visible to users and will automatically block mature content.
TikTok is testing out a rating system that automatically blocks age-inappropriate content from reaching younger users' feeds, a company spokesperson confirmed with Insider.
But unlike at the theater, the age-range ratings will not be directly advertised to users. Instead, the system will operate on the back end of the app and filter out content by age-appropriateness before it hits kids' feeds.
The move is part of a $4 announced on Tuesday that further defines the types of content that will be automatically removed from the app or be $4. The rating system is currently being implemented on a small scale, $4 reported.
A separate feature is also in the works that would allow TikTok
The two developments come as social-media platforms including
"We continue to invest in new ways to recommend content based on age-appropriateness or family comfort," a TikTok spokesperson told Insider. "We're exploring ways to empower individuals and families to select additional content preferences for their own account or their teens' through Family Pairing."
"Thirst trap," a hashtag frequently applied to sexually suggestive videos, currently has 3 billion views on TikTok. But teen users aren't only consuming mature content — they're making it too.
Thirst traps and strip teases are currently ineligible for recommendation into anyone's For You page, regardless of age, according to the app's $4.
Mental health professionals told $4 that the mental toll of posting sexualized content can be "hugely destructive" for young girls, especially those who receive sudden fame in response. The outlet's widely shared $4 also details the mental health effects Instagram can have on teen girls' body image, according to leaked internal research.
"We know that there's family-ish content, there's teen-ish content, there's adult-ish content," Tracy Elizabeth, TikTok's global issue policy lead, reportedly said on a call with journalists.
"We're not in the place yet where we're going to introduce the product with all the bells and whistles. But we will experiment with a very small subset of user experiences to see how this is working in practice, and then we will make adjustments," she told reporters.