TikTok – Family safety mode

Dear Parents and Guardians

Re: TikTok – Family safety mode

We wanted to make families aware of the Family Safety Mode TikTok has introduced, which it refers to as a ‘digital wellbeing’ feature.

Family Safety Mode allows a parent to link their TikTok account to their child’s account.

Once enabled parents will be able to manage the digital wellbeing features, which are:

• Screen time management – control how long your child can spend on TikTok each day.
• Direct messages – limit who can send messages to the connected account or turn DM’s off completely.
• Restricted mode – restrict the appearance of content that may not be appropriate for all audiences.

How to enable Family Safety Mode

1. To enable Family Safety Mode you first of all need to have the TikTok app on your (parent/carer) device and be logged in to your account.
2. At the top right you will see 3 dots. Tap on these which will take you into the Privacy and Settings menu.
3. Scroll down to Digital Wellbeing and tap, you will be presented with the 3 options.
4. Firstly, tap on Family Safety Mode in order to activate the feature. Tap on parent and your child will then need to scan the QR code in order to link the two accounts.
5. You can now activate the screen time management feature, where you can manage the amount of screen time you allow (40, 60, 90 and 120 minutes). You will then set a password which prevents your child going over their allocated time.
6. Once this is done I would recommend you activate Restricted Mode which is a feature to prevent your child seeing inappropriate content. However I have yet to come across a restricted mode on any app or service (e.g. YouTube) which is good. I recommend you activate Restricted Mode, but don’t be lulled into a false sense of security and safety.
7. We  would also recommend you limit who can send messages to the connected account or turn off Direct Messaging completely and also ensure your child’s account is set to Private