Since dodging the temporary US ban and other lawsuits, Chinese video-sharing platform TikTok is issuing some changes to its Family Pairing program, in a bid to make it easier for parents and guardians to keep track of minors’ activity on the app.

TikTok adds trackers and timeouts for teens

The Time Away feature allows guardians to set specific times that the app is available to their kids, and can also schedule the times like an alarm. Parents can now ensure the app is unusable during class, homework time, or any custom period.

Parents can also customise screen time limits across a day or week. For example, teens can be given an hour of screen time to use as they please across the week or day. To get more, your little one will need to beg you for a unique passcode. By default, all minors have an hour of screen time per day.

TikTok is taking the measures further, enabling parents to see their kids’ ‘follower’ and ‘following’ lists. The app also allows them to re-enable the dedicated STEM feed if it has been switched off, as well as make the account private if it has been set to public.

In a sudden change that sees TikTok become quite apologetic for its effect on the youth, the app is also adding a wind-down feature encouraging under-sixteens to disconnect through a screen takeover with calming music, every night at 22h00. Young users can (and likely will) click away to return to their usual doomscrolling.

TikTok says these new changes are in line with the “best practices in behavioural change theory,” providing positive pushes towards healthier long-term habits. The platform also claims that the vast majority of teen users who have tested the feature have opted to keep it on. We wonder if any of the kids testing the feature are South African.