TikTok, which has been banned from all U.S. government devices due to growing scrutiny over its security, is setting a new default time limit for teens.
Users under 18 years old will automatically be set to a 60 minute daily screen time limit in the coming weeks, according to TikTok.
After the 60 minute limit is reached, the user will be told to enter a passcode in order to continue watching, requiring them to make an active decision to extend that time, TikTok said.
A parent or guardian will have to enter an existing passcode to allow 30 minutes of extra viewing time once the initial 60 minute limit is reached for accounts held by users under the age of 13.
If a kid spends more than 100 minutes on TikTok in a day, the unit of Chinese Internet technology company ByteDance is pushing teens to set a daily screen limit and out of the 60 minute default. It will send every teen account a weekly inbox notification with a recap of their screen time.
TikTok said it consulted current academic research and experts from Boston Children's Hospital in deciding the time limit, as there is no collectively endorsed position on the right amount of screen time.
The company says that users will be able to set customized screen time limits for each day of the week and set a schedule to mute notifications. TikTok is rolling out a sleep reminder to help set up a log-off reminder at night.
According to a study done by researchers at the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate, two-thirds of American teenagers use TikTok and the average user spends 80 minutes a day on the application.
The researchers created fictional teen personas and liked videos about self-harm and eating disorders to see how TikTok's algorithm would respond.
TikTok recommended suicide within 2.6 minutes. TikTok served content related to eating disorders within 8 minutes. The researchers said that every 39 seconds, TikTok recommended videos about body image and mental health to teens.
Social media algorithms work by identifying topics and content that interest a user, which is then sent more of the same as a way to maximize their time on the site.
Social media critics say that the algorithms used to promote content about a particular sports team, hobby or dance craze can send users down a rabbit hole of harmful content.
According to a memo obtained by FOX Business, federal agencies were told to develop a plan to delete TikTok from all government devices and systems within 30 days.
The measure, from Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young, comes after Congress passed the massive 4,115-sided government funding bill in December, which instructed the Office of Management and Budget to ban the app.