TikTok to Limit Screen Time for Teens

TikTok is set to limit screen time for teens. Will it work?

One social media giant is making a move to encourage teenagers to spend less time on the app. According to CNN, TikTok will limit screen time for teens to one hour a day.  That's right. Every user under 18 will soon have a screen time limit of one hour a day. The platform will make this the default setting for teens’ accounts, and it will roll out in the coming weeks. (How will this MORGAN WALLEN lovin' Granny feel?)

But they’ll still be able to turn it off. When users 18 or younger reach the 60-minute limit, they’ll be prompted to enter a passcode to add more scrolling time. But TikTok hopes the disruption and requiring teens to make an active decision to stay on the app will help them be more intentional about the time they spend on it. Kids under 13 will also get a one-hour time limit on daily screen time, but they’ll need a parent or guardian to set or enter a passcode to give them an additional 30 minutes. 

Cormac Keenan, TikTok’s head of trust and safety, says the company worked with experts and researchers from the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital to come up with the screen limits. In a blog post Keenan writes, “While there’s no collectively-endorsed position on how much screen time is ‘too much, or even the impact of screen time more broadly, we recognize that teens typically require extra support as they start to explore the online world independently,”