TikTok introduces age-gate feature, removes 6 Mn videos violating guidelines

After receiving flak from the Madras High Court for its children privacy violating video, a short video platform TikTok has introduced an age-gate feature to keep away underage users from the platform.

The feature will allow only users above 13 years to create an account on its platform.

As part of its safety mechanism, the Bytedance-owned platform has also removed over six million videos that have violated its community guidelines in the last eight-month.

The move will reinforce our ongoing commitment to ensure that our platform remains a safe and positive space for our Indian users and we discharge our obligations under the Intermediary Guidelines of India, said Helena Lersch, TikTok Director, of Global Public Policy in a press statement.

TikTok has also started TikTok's Safety Centre and resource pages to tackle bullying activities in multiple languages.

Earlier, Madras High Court Madurai bench of Justices N Kirubakaran and SS Sundar had passed an interim order that directed to prohibit downloading of TikTok app effective from April 3.

The media is also prohibited from telecasting the videos made using TikTok mobile app.

The children, who use the said application are vulnerable and may expose them to a sexual predator, the Madras High Court bench had observed.

TikTok-owned by Bytedance had approached the apex court challenging the April 3 order of the Madras High Court. A plea for an urgent hearing over the ban of short video application TikTok was refused by the Supreme Court.

TikTok in a response to the SC had said that a ban on the video app will hurt free speech rights in the country. While responding to Entrackr's queries, Belle Baldoza, Director of Tiktok's Global Communication said the company is still awaiting official order.

We are committed to abiding by the local law and regulations. At the same time, the company has placed an easy reporting mechanism to report content that violates our terms of use and community guidelines, Baldoza added.

TikTok has also recently appointed Chief Nodal Officer in the country.

In a span of two years, the short video app has become one of the most popular apps in India. TikTok in last quarter saw 88.6 million new users flocked to the app, according to a Sensor Tower report.

(The post has been updated with TikTok's response)