TikTok is a make-your-own music video app that is now one of the top most downloaded apps in the world. It’s wildly popular among US teens and young adults who enjoy creating short lip-sync videos to share on the popular social media platform. Parents should know there are lots of safety and privacy concerns with TikTok. If your teens are singing and dancing to their favorite songs on TikTok, predators could be watching.
There are also concerns about the app collecting data on kids without parental consent. It’s a good idea to find out if your kids are already on the app, like actress Reese Witherspoon recently did with her own son in this viral video. If your kids are on TikTok, we highly recommend closely monitoring what they are posting and exactly who they are connecting with.
What four students think of the TikTok App (video interview)
What is the TikTok app?
- TikTok is a social media app that allows users to film videos that are 15 seconds or less
- Lip-syncing, dancing, and acting out comedy sketches are some of the most popular types of videos on TikTok
- Built-in editing tools make it easy for users to edit their videos without any additional apps
- Similar to Snapchat, or Instagram Stories, TikTok users can add filters to their videos
- Like most social media platforms, users earn likes and comments on their posts
- Songs, effects, or sound bites can be added to the videos
- TikTok incentivizes collaboration by allowing users to “duet” with each other, which encourages audience reactions
- Users can follow others on the app without posting their own content but there is no way to browse content on the app without setting up an account
- The app boasts an “endless stream” of content for users to watch which can promote addictive behavior in students
Watch our TikTok App Parent Guide as a video:
Parents & Students: Contact us if you want to be on one of our video interviews.
The dangers of TikTok:
Unfortunately there are several reports that discuss the dangers of TikTok, from predator concerns to collecting data on minors without parental consent. We want parents to be informed before they give their student access to this app.
An article from the BBC shows that child predators are a major problem on the app
“Video-sharing app TikTok is failing to suspend the accounts of people sending sexual messages to teenagers and children, a BBC investigation has found.”
“Hundreds of sexually explicit comments have been found on videos posted by children as young as nine.”
CBS 7 reports predators are using the app to lure children
“The app is innocent enough, but there are reportedly online predators who use these apps to lure children. [Investigations into the app] found a large community of adult users on TikTok soliciting nude photos from kids. Some of those users even sent explicit videos to children.”
Students don’t know who is watching their videos, according to an investigation by ABC 27
“TikTok is reportedly the most downloaded free app on the Apple store in the United States. Given its popularity with kids, it can also be a target for predators. Some accounts have the option to go live to the app’s reported 500 million, meaning adults around the world can comment on your kid’s video.”
“If your kid allows someone to follow them on TikTok, that person can privately message them, and that’s where phone numbers or emails can be exchanged, which could lead to private conversations off the app.”
According to CBS News, TikTok has collected data on underage users without parental consent
“TikTok settled a case with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission for $5.7 billion for collecting data on child users without parental consent, back when the app was called Musical.ly. It was the largest civil penalty the agency ever collected for a children’s data-privacy case.”
TikTok’s content moderation methods have come under fire, according to Business Insider
“The Intercept reports that the Brazilian teen’s livestream video remained up on TikTok for more than an hour and a half, and received nearly 500 comments and 15 complaints, before it was taken down from the platform. Once people in TikTok’s Brazil office became aware of the death, they took steps to mitigate fallout for hours before contacting local authorities.“
TikTok attempts to remove content created by kids under 13, according to the Wall Street Journal
“TikTok, which is owned by Chinese conglomerate ByteDance Inc., has worked to broaden its appeal to adults, which it believes is critical to its growth and survival. It has also been trying to boot younger children off the app, and is required to take offline all videos made by children under 13 under a settlement it reached [in 2019] with the Federal Trade Commission.”
Why should parents care?
- This app is incredibly popular with students. According to ProductHunt.com, the TikTok app has more downloads than Snapchat, Spotify, and Gmail combined on the App Store (as of August 2018)
- In our experience, apps like TikTok are often used by predators to solicit minors because the app makes it easy for strangers to direct message children
- There are only two privacy settings on the app
- Private: only the creator can watch their videos
- Public: anyone on the app can see their videos
- By default, all accounts are public unless the privacy settings are changed
- Even if your student is private on the app, they can still see all of the public content on TikTok and experts have reported that it can be easy to come across porn
- Experts have also reported that it can be easy to come across triggering content that promotes self harm or eating disorders on the app
- In order to bypass TikTok’s content filters, students are getting creative with spelling and hashtags in order to post videos that would otherwise get flagged
- “Cringe compilations” have become a popular form of cyberbullying. TikTok users will edit together a bunch of videos that they see as cringe-worthy and post them on YouTube in an effort to make fun of the original posters. Many of these videos have gone viral and garnered millions of views on YouTube which can be incredibly damaging to tweens and teens mental health
The TikTok App in the News
Some children aren’t just interested in making videos with their friends on TikTok — they want to get a lot of likes and followers. And that can lead to bad decisions.
–NBC
Parents have raised concerns about the use of social media platform TikTok, after videos of school students imitating sex acts and miming to explicit songs surfaced online.
–ABC News
Kids can get exposed to content darker than your average, funny TikTok video, and kids are posting and watching suggestive videos, mature discussions, violence and profanity.
–ABC 7 Chicago
Like most apps aimed at young people, TikTok is home to its fair share of creeps.
–Vox
What can parents do?
- null
- Before giving your child access to an app, download it, spend some time using it, then determine if the app is safe for your family
- There are parental controls built into the app but they should not be the only method used to protect your kids on TikTok
- Always be on the apps your students use. No monitoring app is better than having a regular digital safety conversation with your children
- Teach your children to come talk to you, or a trusted adult if they are ever contacted by a stranger on social media. Remind them to never respond to a stranger’s message, befriend them, or share personal information with them
- Ensure that your student is only friends with people on social media who they know in real life (and can verify that they are actually who they say they are on social media)
- Remind your children that their online activity (even under a fake username) can impact their reputation – especially with “cringe compilation” videos that are taken from TikTok
- If your student is experiencing unusual behavior, consider contacting a school counselor or a private therapist. We suggest that every student who might be going through a hard time should work with a therapist
Reese Witherspoon works with her son to learn about TikTok
TikTok was formerly the Musical.ly app:
In August 2018, the popular teen karaoke app Musical.ly was acquired by TikTok and shut down. All 100M Musical.ly users were transferred to the TikTok App. If your student had the Musical.ly app then it’s important to learn about TikTok.
Conclusion
Teens can have a ton of fun expressing their creativity on TikTok. The videos your kids are watching or creating might be harmless, but due to widely reported safety and security issues, we have placed TikTok in the Smart Social Red Zone as an app that is not recommended for tweens and teens.
Watch our original TikTok App Parent Guide video
Listen to this Parent Guide on our podcast:
Listen to this on: Apple Podcasts – Google Podcasts – Youtube
My daughter took her own life on August 2, 2018 due to this app Tik Toc. She was only 20 years old, she joined to have fun and that was it , she didn’t do the stupid stuff or dress In a sexual way like all the girls do, but yet she was bullied by many people on this app. My wife and I have since talked to an attorney to share this and show all parents the nature of this site is in appropriate on how all these girls dress and act, and they know what they are doing on here. My wife and I will take this as far as possible to get the site shut down and or be properly managed and also fight it as a bullying action suite. This is just a heads up.
I’m so sorry for your loss and I very much appreciate your efforts to keep other young people safe. This won’t be an app for my son, thanks to your input.
I am so very sorry.
nice
Kids under 13 shouldn’t be on these social media apps in the first place. It’s inevitable – adults will always bring mature content to these platforms for everyone to see and it can’t be stopped. And if you want to save your kids from cyber bullying – keep them off of social media. If Tik Tok was shut down, they can always be bullied on another site like YouTube. Don’t ruin the app for the rest of us who enjoy using it.
Also remember you can enable “Restricted Mode” via its “Digital Wellbeing” feature which you can locate and navigate from the “Safety Center” found in the settings section. I am NOT saying this is a safe app, I think any app you use outside of or housed in certain countries should probably just not be used especially since human trafficking and what not are a risk BUT if you do use it just be sure to talk to your kids about it and look everywhere for those privacy settings. A lot of apps like to provide privacy settings just not in a place where you can actually find them.
Tik Tok deleted by daughter’s account after being on there since it was created several years ago. She also had over 1000 fans/followers. She lost so many cute videos that she has created of herself and with friends. We were both pretty upset yesterday when we found out this happened. As her mom I am a follower so to monitor everything she posts and there was nothing bad/inappropriate on any of her postings. Does anyone know why they would just randomly delete an account?