Whatever their age, we can help you to find out more about what they might be doing online and give you practical advice on the steps you can take as a parent to keep them safe in their digital world.
How can I protect my children?
Children use the internet in different ways depending on their age and so we’ve developed checklists for parents that give you top tips on how to help them stay safe.
Children can and do all sorts of amazing things online, the internet, after all, is creative, fun and educational. Our advice guides give you the need to know information about the most common activities.
Technology moves so quickly, in particular smartphones, tablets and apps. Learn about the latest apps and the latest technology in our useful guides for parents.
We work collaboratively across industry, government and with schools to reach UK families with tools, tips and resources to help children benefit from connected technology smartly and safely.
‘Your In Control’ safety videos to promote privacy, safety and positivity to users
TikTok is a social networking app that replaced the popular Musical.ly app when it went offline in 2017. Know as Douyin in China, it gives users the ability to watch and create short clips of up to 60 seconds.
What is TikTok?
TikTok is a free social media app that lets you create, share, and watch short clips. The app is popular for viral dances and celeb cameos and is a creative and fun platform for all ages to enjoy.
Currently, the app is available in 75 languages with over 1 billion active users (Jan 2021). Like Musical.ly before it, it is most popular with under 16s. It has also now become the most downloaded app of 2019.
TikTok safety guide – Get to grips with the safety tools available on the app and ways your teen can make the most of their time on the platform.SEE GUIDE
What can you find on TikTok?
Short videos up to 60 seconds of everything from popular songs to users dancing, lip-synching, performing comedy sketches, and more.https://www.youtube.com/embed/McTOIPLVGfE?rel=0Example of videos you will find on TikTok platform
What are the current trends and challenges?
TikTok trends and challenges are a popular part of the app that change often. Users can re-create content from dance challenges to memes about current events. While many are harmless and fun, there are others that need to be monitored closely.
These challenges and trends can harm a child’s physical health and mental wellbeing:
The silhouette challenge: users create images or videos that are edited using a filter so they appear as a silhouette. Many are sexualizing themselves with this challenge. Filters can also be removed by others, so users must be careful about what they are wearing behind the camera.
The blackout challenge: around before TikTok existed, it involves users interrupting their oxygen until they get close to losing consciousness. This challenge has lead to the recent deaths of multiple children aged 9-12.
Back cracking challenge: a user cracks the back of their friend without any training. Medical professionals warn that this can twist and pull on the spine, resulting in long-term damage.
Nutmeg challenge: consuming large amounts of nutmeg has been shown to affect the nervous system, potentially causing hallucinations. However, research shows it can also cause dizziness, nausea, drowsiness, dry mouth, confusion, and seizures.
Full face wax trend: presented as a skincare routine, users cover their entire face with wax. There is risk of suffocation if the wax enters the airways. Because wax is designed to harden, once in the airways, it can only be removed surgically.
The magnet challenge: using small magnetic balls, users pretend to have piercings on their ears, noses, and lips. More extreme versions see users swallowing these magnetic balls so that they can stick magnets on their skin and be ‘magnetic’ themselves. This has resulted in serious hospitalisation and surgery to remove these harmful magnets.
Visit TikTok Safety Centre to learn more about it’s educational video series, “You’re in Control” – foster a safe, positive environment where users are in control and can express themselves creatively.
13 is the minimum age according to TikTok’s terms and conditions.
How does TikTok work?
Once signed up and logged in, you can either search for popular categories, creators, or find people via your friend’s contact list, or you can create the videos yourself. But many people just use the app to follow content creators.
How to create an account
Click on the ‘person’ icon and you can choose to sign up with an email, phone number, or existing Google, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram account.
Once you have selected an option, you are then asked to enter your date of birth, if it is below the age of 13, the app displays the following message: “Sorry, looks like you’re not eligible for TikTok. But thanks for checking us out!”
Your feed highlights what is going on in your community and a separate ‘For you’ feed shows tailored recommendations for you.
Why do teens love TikTok?
It is a way to express themselves and create short-form video clips to gain a following and build a community around their passions. It also features some great special effects that users can apply to their videos to make them more unique. You can also cross-post the content on other platforms (such as Instagram) to share it with more people.
What do parents say about the app?
Seeing inappropriate content
Parents have expressed concerns about the inappropriate language of some of the videos posted which may make this less suitable for younger children.
Contact from strangers
Predators seeking to connect with children is another risk that parents have said to their children. A parent review can be found on Common Sense Media.
What should parents be concerned about?
When you download the app users can see all the content without creating an accountalthough they are not able to post, like, or share anything until they’ve set up an account on the app.
You can set up your account by using your existing Google, Facebook, Instagram account, via email or phone.
By default all accounts are public so anyone on the app can see what your child shares. However, only approved followers can send them messages.
Users can like or react to a video, follow an account or send messages to each other, so there is the risk that strangers will be able to directly contact children on the app.
Children may be tempted to take risks to get more of a following or likes on a video so it’s important to talk about what they share and with who.
Need to delete your account? Go to Me>Tap …, located on the top right corner>Tap Manage account > Delete account. Follow the instructions in the app to delete your account.
TikTok has said: “Today’s announcement is about going one step further to put in place stronger proactive protections to keep younger members of our community safe.
We look forward to the feedback of our community and all of our stakeholders as we constantly improve with new features and resources to help our community manage their TikTok experience.”
Does TikTok have any safety features?
Digital Wellbeing Like Facebook and Instagram, it has a digital wellbeing element (which is password protected) that alerts users who have been on the app for more than two hours. You can also turn on ‘restricted mode’ to filter out inappropriate content on the app.
Private account You can set an account to be private so that all videos can only be seen by the creator and no one else on the platform. With a private account, you can approve or deny users and limit incoming messages to followers only. Please note that even with a private account, your child’s profile photo, username, and bio are still visible to all users on the platform. You can manage who can comment, duet and direct message your child on the app.
Privacy settings TikTok users under 18 will have their accounts set to private-by-default, which means only someone who the user approves as a follower can view their videos. The change is part of a wider package of measures designed to drive higher standards of user privacy and safety. Download the updated privacy settings here.
Internet Matters CEO Carolyn Bunting adds: “The safety of children and young people online needs to be a priority for organisations across the industry.
The disabling of direct messaging on the TikTok platform for under 16s is a significant move in prioritising the safety of their young users and we are pleased to see the protection of their younger users taking precedence in their product changes.
TikTok provides fantastic opportunities to be creative and have fun, especially in these unprecedented times and it is encouraging to see them invest in a number of initiatives that help to create a safer environment for young people.”
As of late 2019, the following features were rolled out globally:
Live streaming: The minimum age limit to host a live stream will still remain 16.
Additionally, users wishing to use the live streaming feature will need to have a track record of creating quality content that follows TikTok’s Community Guidelines. Users who want to live stream will be required to have a certain number of fans before they can use this feature.
As of 16 April 2020, the following features have been implemented:
Family Pairing (previously Family Safety Mode): TikTok’s new Family Safety Mode which will be rolled out globally in the next coming weeks, is an in-app feature designed for parents to help keep their kids safe whilst using TikTok.
Changes to the virtual gifting policy: The new policy will only allow those over 18 to purchase, send or receive virtual gifts – read more here.
You’re in Control Education series:TikTok is continuing this series to help TikTok users understand how they can filter comments, choosing a private account, restricting duets, and much more.
Opening a Trust and Safety Hub in Dublin: The Trust and Safety Hub is designed to strengthen TikTok’s policies, technologies, and strategies.
Voluntary Principles: Supported by Five Eyes nations globally, to counter online child exploitation. Read more here.
Changes to Direct Messaging: Now, only those aged 16 and over will be able to send and receive Direct Messages.
As of Jan 2021, the following features have been implemented:
New privacy settings: TikTok users under 18 will have their accounts set to private-by-default (as of Jan 2021) as mentioned above.
Tackling fake news and misinformation:A new fact-check feature that will confirm and remove content if false (as of Feb 2021). Read more here.
Prevention of bullying feature: Creators are now able to control what comments can be posted on their content before it goes live. In addition, users who comment will get a prompt advising them to reconsider their comment if it’s inappropriate (as of March 2021). Read more here.
Tightening the options for commenting on videos created by those ages 13-15: Younger users can now choose between “friends” or “no one,” and the “everyone” comment setting is being removed.
Changing Duet and Stitch settings: The broader TikTok community won’t be able to use those features with content created by people under 16, though anyone can Duet and Stitch with eligible content from users over 16. For users aged 16-17, the default setting for these features will now be set to Friends.
Removing the ability to download videos created by those under 16: For users ages 16-17, this function will now be set to “off” by default, with the option to allow downloads of videos if a user chooses.
Setting “suggest your account to others” to “off” by default for accounts ages 13-15.
Bedtime block on app alerts – TikTok has announced a feature that prevents teenagers from receiving notifications past their bedtime. They will no longer send notifications after 9 pm to users 13-15 years old. But for 16 and 17 year-olds, notifications will not be sent after 10 pm.
How to report inappropriate content on the TikTok app?
You can report content that doesn’t follow TikTok’s Community Guidelines within the app, click here to find out how to do it on the app.
You can block followers ‘ by choosing the fan you’d like to remove and selecting ‘Block’ from the menu of options.
Be sure to update the TikTok app to ensure you are kept up to date with the latest features.Parental controls
Learn how to set privacy and safety settings on the TikTok social platform to help your child have a safer experience. SEE GUIDE
Six things you can do to keep them safe on the app
Resources for Parents, Safety Centre. Here you will find links for a wide variety of Safety Settings and Parental Control guides. If your having difficulty finding information on an App or platform not featured here, please get in contact with us. We strongly advise that Restriction, and Monitoring Parental Controls are installed on all deciceschildrenhave access to in the home.
Essential Account Safety for Parents and Kids
Before you begin looking at the all of the information available here, it’s important for you to protect your own device and online accounts. One of the most important settings you will ever need to activate for any online account, is the Two-Factor Authentication option. Please ensure that you take the time to understand the importance of this security feature. To help you, we have prepared this handy guide to explain it for you.
Nickelodeon, a cable network that used to entertain children and is now aggressively looking to prematurely sexualize them, is facing a well-deserved ratings collapse.
Maybe pushing adult sexuality on a children’s network isn’t such a good idea, and it really makes you wonder what’s going on behind the scenes with the execs that brings such creepy content to air.
Over the past few years, Nickelodeon (owned by ViacomCBS) has repeatedly attempted to propagandize and sexualize its mostly prepubescent audience by sneaking adult sexuality into content aimed directly at children.
Homosexuality in Blues Clues & You.Transsexuals and bisexuals in popular shows such as SpongeBob SquarePants, The Adventures of Korra, and Henry Danger. And more and moreand more and more, not to mention its embrace of adult politics.
Evil enjoys nothing more than the defilement and shattering of innocence, something Nickelodeon has sought going all the way back to 2015.
Today, Nickelodeon is not even trying to hide its agenda… This isn’t a clip from John Waters’ film. It’s a clip from a children’s network…
The good news is that this push has resulted in a catastrophic ratings collapse for these corporate wokesters…
What had regularly been a top-rated cable network pre-grooming can now barely attract a third of its audience from 2017.
In July of 2017, Nickelodeon was averaging around 1.2 million viewers per week. Since February of this year, the channel has not been able to push its average viewership over 400,000. Last month, the numbers crashed as low as just 328,000.
Just last week, during primetime, Nickelodeon’s average primetime viewership was just 395,000. Its total day average was just 372,000.
Basically, what that means is that about 1/10th of one percent of the population is tuning in to this garbage.
It’s simply beyond my comprehension what it must be like for parents of young children to try and navigate increasingly aggressive cultural institutions attempting to groom their kids with this kind of adult sexuality. The monsters at Disney are doing the same, so are the public schools, and then there’s the Internet.
But this is what leftists love most, corrupting your children, hoping it will confuse and twist them into something they can exploit.
The good news, though, is that Nickelodeon is paying a steep price. It could very well be that the drag queen move was to try and boost its devastating ratings with the drag queen crowd. At this point, who else is there to appeal to?
Actress Kirstie Alley issued a dire warning on Friday, noting that children are being exposed to “everything perverse on every kind of screen” and cautioning that Hollywood is conditioning society to be so “open minded” that it will soon “support” pedophilia as “just loving children.”
“Was watching TV …we’ve gone too far in my opinion. I feel sorry for our children. Their exposure to everything perverse on every kind of screen is mind boggling. And even more tragic, it’s being hyped as ‘normal,’” the Cheers star wrote.
“No other generation has had such easy access to the underbelly of humanity. SO many screens & chronic bombardment of images and concepts. Our current society would have been praising Caligula. Protect your children,” she continued in the series of tweets to her 1.5 million Twitter followers, confessing to have a “heavy heart” over what she described as the “shit that’s being crammed down our kid’s throats.”
“A ‘moral code’ is not old fashioned. Morals are simply guidelines for better survival. Explicit sexual ‘education’ and ‘select’ ideals being forced on kids is NOT better survival,” the Trump-supporting actress said before warning that society is on the path to accepting pedophilia.
“People are becoming so ‘open minded’ that down the road they will support pediphilia [sic] as people ‘just loving children’ You think I’m kidding. I’m not. It’s the direction this insanity is headed. You can ‘ok boomer’ me all you want but this is where we will veer unless we change,” Alley cautioned.
Was watching TV …we’ve gone too far in my opinion. I feel sorry for our children. Their exposure to everything perverse on every kind of screen is mind boggling. And even more tragic, it’s being hyped as “normal”.
No other generation has had such easy access to the underbelly of humanity. SO many screens & chronic bombardment of images and concepts. Our current society would have been praising Caligula. Protect your children.
People are becoming so “open minded” that down the road they will support pediphilia as people “just loving children” You think I’m kidding. I’m not. It’s the direction this insanity is headed. You can “ok boomer” me all you want but this is where we will veer unless we change.
My generation had zero public sex talk and zero sex education. In “health” class we did learn about “periods”.. sort of🤣🤣🤣 But I can honestly say sex came fairly naturally when the occasion arose.
The Look Who’s Talking Now star faced some backlash on Twitter and publicly responded to some of her critics.
“My generation had zero public sex talk and zero sex education. In ‘health’ class we did learn about ‘periods’.. sort of. But I can honestly say sex came fairly naturally when the occasion arose,” she continued, later adding, “I love the way the twisty twists twist my fears about CHILDREN’s futures into I’m against ADULTS having their choice of partners. Funny how all roads lead to that. I could care less who adults love or sleep with. My topic today was children being exposed to dark things.”
My generation had zero public sex talk and zero sex education. In “health” class we did learn about “periods”.. sort of🤣🤣🤣 But I can honestly say sex came fairly naturally when the occasion arose.
I love the way the twisty twists twist my fears about CHILDREN’s futures into “I’m against ADULTS having their choice of partners. Funny how all roads lead to that. I could care less who adults love or sleep with. My topic today was children being exposed to dark things.
Alley’s warning comes as major TV networks ramp up their display of what the left has dubbed “social justice” issues but what ends up — in many cases — being drag queens and the outright promotion of the LGBTQ agenda.
Last year, Cartoon Network, available to some 85 million U.S. households, promoted radical gender ideology in a social media post, telling children there are “many genders beyond ‘girl’ or ‘boy.’”
Nickelodeon has followed suit and even had Blue’s Clues teaming up with drag queen Nina West in a video celebrating pride month, featuring “cartoon version of the drag queen singing about all types of family arrangements, including transgender, gay, and supposed ‘non-binary’ parents and children,” as Breitbart News detailed.
Over the past few years, Nickelodeon (owned by ViacomCBS) has repeatedly attempted to propagandize and sexualize its mostly prepubescent audience by sneaking adult sexuality into content aimed directly at children.
Homosexuality in Blues Clues & You. Transsexuals and bisexuals in popular shows such as SpongeBob SquarePants, The Adventures of Korra, and Henry Danger. And more and more and more and more, not to mention its embrace of adult politics.
Alley is no stranger to triggering her critics, openly mocking the updated guidelines prioritizing diversity standards issued by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences last year.
“This is a disgrace to artists everywhere…can you imagine telling Picasso what had to be in his fucking paintings,” Alley wrote at the time. “You people have lost your minds. Control artists, control individual thought .. OSCAR ORWELL”
Alley announced her full support of former President Trump in October last year after supporting him in 2016 and later went on to criticize the corporate media for fearmongering with its Chinese coronavirus coverage.
“They are broadcasting terror because it’s a deflection,” she told Tucker Carlson at the time. “When the thing came out with Biden, and is he in cahoots with China? Is he in cahoots with Ukraine? OK, let’s find out, I would say.”
The Trailblazing Patriot 