TikTok announced this Wednesday that those under 18 years of age will only be able to use that social network for 60 minutes a day. This measure was taken after an academic investigation carried out by experts from the Laboratory of Good Digital Use at Boston Children’s Hospital, where they warned about the harm to minors who remained connected to the screen for more than an hour a day.
“We consulted current academic research and experts from the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital, and while there is no unanimous position on how much screen time is ‘too much’, or even on the impact of screen time in general, we acknowledge that adolescents often need additional support when they begin to explore the digital world independently, ”explained the Chinese company.
According to Cormac Keenan, TikTok’s head of reliability and security, when the user exceeds 60 minutes, the minor will receive a message to register a password and thus make “the active decision” to continue using the video app.
Currently, access to the application is restricted for children under 13 years of age. However, for those over 13 years of age, the parent or guardian must enter a password for the minor to have another 30 minutes of use.