ByteDance imposes a time limit for kids below 14 on TikTok in China!

Douyin, or also known as the Chinese version of TikTok, will set a time limit for kids in China.

A window time for use between 6AM and 10PM

Introducing strict youth protection measures in short video platform

We have a previous report that China's  National Press and Publication Administration introduced new rules that restrict Chinese citizens under 18 to playing online games only on Fridays, weekends, and holidays. Apparently, the government has been focused on cutting the amount of time Chinese teenagers spend online, which it views as harmful. 

TikTok's company ByteDance is now implementing restrictions for teens in China. As mentioned in a blog post from the company, children who are under 14 years old may use Douyin (TikTok) for up to 40 minutes per day only. This is in line with the Chinese government's new regulations related to youth's access to video games.

Moreover, teens below 14 years old will be able to use Douyin between 6 AM and 10 PM only. It means they cannot access the app outside of that window. This restriction is applicable for users who are already authenticated and using their real names. 

Allegedly, the company is pushing parents to assist their kids to complete the authentication process or activate youth mode when the app prompted them to do so. Aside from that ByteDance announced that the content available to users in youth mode will now include educational material. It added,

In the youth mode, we have also prepared wonderful content for everyone, such as the novel and interesting popular science experiments, exhibitions in museums and galleries, beautiful scenery across the country, explanations of historical knowledge, and so on. I hope that these contents can arouse children's interest in a certain field, and learn and gain something when watching the video.

Douyin said that it is constantly optimizing the functions of the youth mode. By 2021, they have released the discovery channel, collection, subscription, and other functions.

What do you think?

Source: Douyin