TikTok is testing a new setting that allows users to limit live broadcasts to viewers 18 and older. The company confirmed to TechCrunch that the new setup is currently undergoing limited testing with select users.
Screenshots of the new setup shared by a product intelligence company springy Show that users with access to the new option can go to their settings and toggle the “Mature Features” button to restrict live broadcasts to adults. The app notes that “only viewers 18 and older can see your live stream” if you turn it on. Once you turn on the setting, TikTok will notify you that live videos tagged with 18+ will still be removed if they violate the app’s community guidelines, which include nudity, sexual activity, and violence policies.
It is important to note that TikTok 18+’s new restriction setting for live streaming is not a way for users to stream adult content, as the content is still subject to the app’s policies. Instead, it is a way for creators to prevent minors from viewing content that is aimed at an adult audience or may not be interested in them.
The new setup comes a few months after TikTok announced its desire to start selecting content suitable for young adults and older teens versus adults. TikTok said it is developing a system to limit and restrict certain types of content from being accessed by teens and that it will begin requiring creators to determine when their content is more appropriate for an adult audience.
Image credits: springy
“We’ve heard directly from our creators that sometimes they just have a desire to reach a certain older audience. So, for example, maybe they make comedies with adult humor, or they give the kind of boring workplace advice that isn’t about Or maybe they’re talking about very difficult life experiences,” Tracy Elizabeth, head of issues policy at TikTok US, who oversees the platform’s simple safety procedures, explained in a briefing with reporters in February. “Given these kinds of topics, we’re testing ways to help creators better reach the target audience for their specific content.”
Elizabeth indicated that TikTok wouldn’t go so far as to have “viewable” ratings or ratings on TikTok videos, allowing people to see the age-appropriate nature of a specific piece of content at a glance. Instead, TikTok plans to rely on hashtags at the back end, which will depend on getting creators to tag their content in some way. The new restriction setting of 18+ is an example of putting this idea into practice.
At the time, the company also said that users would be able to choose what “comfort areas” – or content maturity levels – they want to see in the app. Parents and guardians will also be able to use the existing parental control feature of TikTok Family Pairing to make decisions about this on behalf of their minor children.
