Enhancing Safety and Customization on TikTok

TikTok is a platform that brings together a diverse community of users, spanning across different generations. We prioritize the safety and well-being of our users by implementing various features and controls. This includes limiting certain features based on age, providing content controls for users, and offering parental controls for families.

Today, we are excited to announce new features and technologies that will enhance the viewing experience on TikTok while ensuring safety. One of these features is a tool that allows users to customize their content preferences. This tool enables users to discover new interests, creators, and ideas while also filtering out content they may not want to see. For example, users can skip videos from specific creators or with certain words or hashtags.

We are also committed to diversifying our recommendations and creating a positive environment for our users. We have been testing ways to avoid recommending repetitive content on topics that may be fine as a single video but potentially problematic if viewed repeatedly. This includes topics related to dieting, extreme fitness, sadness, and other well-being topics. Through these tests, we have improved the viewing experience by reducing the number of videos on these topics that users see at a time. We are continuously iterating on this work and expanding it to more markets.

To further safeguard the viewing experience, we are introducing Content Levels. This system will organize content based on thematic maturity, similar to systems used in the film industry, television, or gaming. In the coming weeks, an early version of Content Levels will be introduced to prevent content with overtly mature themes from reaching audiences between the ages of 13-17. This will help ensure that younger users are not exposed to content that may be too intense or frightening for them. We plan to add more functionality in the future to provide detailed content filtering options for our entire community.

Our goal is to create a safe and enjoyable experience for our global community. We understand that this is a complex task and we may make mistakes along the way. We value feedback from our community and consult with independent experts, including our Content Advisory Council, to continuously improve our platform.

In conclusion, TikTok is dedicated to providing a safe and entertaining experience for users of all ages. We are constantly working on new features and technologies to enhance customization, diversify recommendations, and safeguard the viewing experience.